Silver Moon
by TheDarkSideIsTheInterestingOne
Summary: Tsukiko Kimura is a regular Konoha shinobi. Well, as normal as you can be in Konoha. One day she even captures the interest of two boys, but who will she choose? The boy that she's known forever, or the one who always picked on her? KibaxOCxShikamaru
1. Pass, or not?

**Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto, or any of the characters except my own. I also own the plot.**

**Story inspired by- Cry Just a Little by PurpleHaze09, another KibaxOCxShikamaru story. (Very good story, go read it!)**

_Pass or not?_

"In order to pass the exam and become a genin, you all need to successfully perform the clone jutsu. When you are called, come into the next room where you will start." Iruka-sensei said to us. I fidgeted in my seat, would I be able to pass? What would dad say if I didn't? I was so nervous, my owl, Jun, hopped into my lap and nibbled my fingers. I smiled at him, and ran my fingers across his sleek soft feathers. He didn't seem to be nervous.

I looked around the room, searching for my two best friends. I first saw Hinata, who was staring nervously at Naruto. I smiled; she was probably worrying about him. I knew she would pass; she was very smart after all and tried hard.

I continued to look around, and saw my other friend, Chouji. I smiled as I saw he was munching on some chips. He looked a little nervous but I knew he would do well. He and I had been friends for a while, considering we lived right next to each other. I had also been quite chubby when I was little, so I hadn't had many friends, but we banded together and became friends because we were the same. Since then I had lost my baby fat, but I still had some meat on my bones. In all actuality, I didn't want to be as skinny as Ino or Sakura.

Chouji turned around, caught my eyes and smiled at me. I smiled back and stuck a thumb up, my code for 'You'll do great'. He nodded and did the same. I giggled and went back to petting Jun. I heard a bark, and looked to my left. I saw Kiba's dog, Akamaru, was standing on Kiba's head and he was glaring at Jun. I glared back. Kiba himself was sitting a few seats down. There was no one sitting in between us, so I decided to talk to Kiba when Akamaru growled.

"Kiba, can you please tell your mutt to shut up?" I asked, annoyed. He looked over angrily.

"Can you tell your damned bird to stop shedding everywhere?" He asked, holding up a feather. I recognized it as Jun's. Jun himself hooted indignantly.

"It's called molting dummy. But you're so stupid I don't expect you to know the difference." I retorted. He glared and was about to say something else when Iruka called his name.

"At least I'll pass." He said, as Akamaru hopped in the front of his hoodie. He was gone before I could correct him. Kiba and I had always been somewhat enemies. He used to be one of the ones who picked on me because of my weight. I rolled my eyes and leaned back. At least I wasn't nervous now.

I watched as Hinata got called in, and Chouji, then everyone else. There were only a few people left, the only one I knew out of them was Shino, and he got called in next. I started to fidget again, when Jun hopped up onto my shoulder.

_"You'll be fine, please don't worry about it." _Jun hooted softly, and tugged a bit of my brown hair. I smiled at him.

"I know. I'm more worried about Chouji and Hinata. I hope they passed." I told him quietly. He gave me a soft head butt, and then flew up to perch on one of the wooden beams.

I started to play with my hair, it's a chocolaty brown with gold highlights, and came down to my waist. My eyes are a dark green, almost emerald in shade, and as I said before, I have a little bit of meat on me. I'm an average height for my age. Other than that, there's nothing special about me. My usual outfit consists of a white skirt (I have dark blue shorts on underneath. It's too hard to run around without them.) And a dark blue shirt that has a string to tie the little slit at the neckline with (**1**). My shoes were normal dark blue ninja sandals.

"Kimura Tsukiko, it's your turn." Iruka called from the door. I felt an onrush of anxiety bubble up, but I stood and walked to the door, Jun swooping down and landing on my shoulder. Iruka led me to the next room, and we walked in. He sat down at the table, and I stood in front of it. Mizuki was there too. I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes.

"Whenever you're ready." Mizuki said. I nodded, and got into position as Jun flew off to sit on the window sill. I flashed the hand signals.

"Bunshin no Jutsu!" I said out loud, and heard a few 'poof's and looked over to see three identical clones of me looking back. I grinned and looked over to Iruka and Mizuki. They smiled too.

"Congratulations, you are now a Genin!" Iruka said, and handed me a forehead protector. I released the jutsu, and took my Hitai-ate and felt pride bubble in my chest. Dad will be so proud!

"You can go home; tomorrow you will be assigned your team and jounin sensei. You did great." Iruka told me with a smile. I grinned, and Jun and I rushed from the classroom.

I burst through the front doors of the academy, and ran all the way home while Jun soared overhead. When I reached home, I was out of breath and a little ruffled up, but excited nonetheless. I threw the front door open, and ran inside with Jun following. I stopped in the front hall and kicked my shoes off while Jun landed on my shoulder.

"Dad! Dad! I'm home! Guess what?" I shouted. Two seconds later, I was in my Dad's study. He swiveled around in his chair to look at me and smile.

"What happened?" He asked chuckling. I grinned and hopped over, handing him my new, shiny, awesome Hitai-ate. His eyes got as big as saucers as I grinned at him.

"I knew you could do it! I'm so proud of you! Let's go out and celebrate! Where do you wanna go?" He asked as he scooped me up into a hug. I hugged back, grinning.

"Let's go get barbeque!" I suggested. My dad laughed and nodded.

"Sounds great. Go get ready and I'll be down in a minute." I nodded and left, Jun hooting happily.

My father and I look a lot alike; we have the same hair, the same eyes, and the same nose. Other than that though, I look like my mother. My mother passed away when I was young, I was only three when it happened.

She had gotten sick because she had to go to a village that was plagued by disease. It was her mission to try and cure it. She was a medi-nin you know. She cured the people, but got sick herself, and no one saw the signs, until it was too late. My dad had been upset for a long time after that, but he always tells me that I had been the reason he went on. He and I love each other a lot.

I don't miss her though. I don't remember much about her other than she always wore dark blue. That is why I wear the same color. My mother had black long curly hair and brown eyes, I only know that because my dad had given me a picture of her on my sixth birthday.

I was startled out of my thoughts when I heard the footsteps of my dad. "Ready to go?" He asked me as he came around the corner.

"Yup! Let's go slow poke!" I teased him as he laughed.

"Alright, you lead the way. Is Jun coming?" He asked smiling. I nodded as Jun himself flew in at the mention of his name.

My dad and I are a lot like Kiba and his family in how we use animals as ninja tools. Jun and I are a team. We train together, learn jutsu's together, and someday we'll fight our battles together. My father does the same thing, only he has a lot more birds, and his preferred birds are falcons.

We headed out the door, and I couldn't help but wonder. Who would my teammates be? I think I would die if I had to put up with Kiba the mutt. I just hope I can get Chouji or Hinata on my team. My eyes widened as I realized I didn't know if they had even passed! I guess I'll find out tomorrow though.

**1- I saw Ino wearing a shirt like that during one of the endings, and I thought it was cute :D**

**Anyways, hope you liked it so far! I don't very much care if you leave a review or not, criticism is appreciated, but I'll update when I do, I won't force you to review just so I upload faster. New chapter will be up by 6/19. (Probably before)**

**Thanks a bunch for reading!**

**- Ashley (AKA Mrs. Shino)**


	2. Team Mate's and Strange Sensei's

**Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto or the characters. I own my characters and the plot. That's about it.**

_Team Mates and Strange Sensei's_

The next day, I woke up early and ate breakfast quickly. I wanted to get my team and meet my sensei! I was very excited to say the least, and Jun was even eating his morning mouse eagerly. My dad laughed at us and practically shoved me out of the door.

"Have a great day! I hope you get a good team and Jounin sensei. I've gotta go on a mission today, and it might last 'til tomorrow. Love you." Dad told me as he walked Jun and me to the door. I nodded and hugged him.

"Love you more! See you later, I'll tell you all about my new team when you get back!" I replied. Then I slipped on my shoes and grabbed my boxed lunch from my dad and walked out the door with Jun on my shoulder.

I waited outside on the sidewalk for Chouji. He and I always walk to and from school together. Except for yesterday that is. I was so excited I left without waiting to see if he was still at the academy. All of a sudden I saw Chouji walk through his front door.

"Hi Chouji!" I called out to him, waving. He waved back and shut his door. He walked over and smiled.

"Hey Kiko." He said as he got closer. "Did you pass?" He asked me happily.

"Yup!" I answered, showing him my arm, where I had tied my Hitai-ate at. He grinned. "And obviously you did too!" I said, pointing at his head where he had tied it. We both laughed and started walking.

"Who do you think will be on your team?" I asked. Chouji shrugged.

"I hope I get Shikamaru. I think I would rather not be a shinobi if I got Ino on my team though." He said, turning up his nose at the last comment. I giggled.

"I know! Shikamaru would be a good team mate, except that he's always so lazy! But I think I'd rather be stuck with Ino than that mutt Kiba." I admitted laughing. Chouji grinned.

"I can't help but wonder who my sensei will be. I hope he's nice. I've already had enough of my Sensei's yell at me because of Jun." I told him with a frown.

"I hope mine doesn't mind my snacking. Ooh! I hope he treats us to lunch often!" I laughed. Then I remembered what I had in my bag.

"I almost forgot! I have something for you Chouji!" I told him, as I slung my bag off my back and rifled through it until I found what I was looking for. He looked at me curiously, but I handed him a bag of chips.

"They're you're favorite, barbequed pork. The bag's even twice as big then normal. I went out to get barbeque last night with my dad and it made me think of you. So I decided to get you something. I got Hinata and Shikamaru something too. I hope you like it. There's another one at my house, I'll give it to you after school." I stopped my rambling and smiled as he looked at the bag in awe.

"Thank you Kiko! It's awesome! I didn't get you anything though..." He looked at me worriedly. I giggled at him.

"Don't worry Chouji! You didn't have to." I gave him a big smile.

"Yo Chouji! Kiko!" I heard from behind us. We both turned around and saw Shikamaru walking towards us, slow as ever. I smiled at him as we waited for him to join us.

"Hey Shika, guess what Kiko got me!" Chouji said as he showed Shikamaru my present. I blushed.

"I got you one too, Shika." I told him, handing him a box. He took it curiously. "It's a box of chocolate shaped clouds. I thought it was funny and it made me think of you. Hope you like it." I told him while smiling.

"How troublesome. I didn't get you anything. I suppose this is for graduating?" He said, noticing my Hitai-ate. I laughed as I saw we put them in the same place. I nodded.

"Don't worry; I didn't expect anything in return. Oh look, we're here already." We walked inside and found our classroom. Almost everyone was there. Even Naruto had managed to pass! I'll go congratulate him later. I scowled as I heard an annoying yip from behind me.

"See you later guys." I told Shikamaru and Chouji. I was about to walk over to my seat when the person I wanted to see the least got in my way. Jun hooted in annoyance and Akamaru yipped.

"Get out of my way mutt." I snarled as I put my hands on my hips. He glared at me.

"How the hell did you manage to pass, Fowl girl?" That was everyone's nick name for me.

"It's actually quite simple, I'm smart. What, did they invite you here to show you what you'll never get?" I retorted, grinning evilly. He pushed his hood back a little to show me his Hitai-ate.

"I thought owls were supposed to have really good vision." He said, pointing at his headband. I rolled my eyes.

"Well if you hadn't dressed like a hobo, I would've seen it." I snapped. He opened his mouth to retort, but the door was flung open and Ino and Sakura charged in, out of breath.

"Goal!" They both yelled when they caught their breath. I turned back to Kiba and rolled my eyes. I pushed him aside, and walked to my desk.

"Out of my way mutt." I said snottily and smiled. He walked over to his own desk, grumbling.

"God what I'd give to teach you a lesson." He muttered.

"Same here mutt, you need some lessons for that under-developed brain of yours." I told him. I caught sight of Hinata and smiled, but then frowned. Her present! I walked over and sat next to her.

"Hey Hinata! I'm glad you passed! I got you a present." I told her and handed her what I had gotten her. She opened the little box and gasped.

"Oh it's too much I couldn't possibly accept it, and I don't even have anything for you in return!" She said, rushing as she clutched the camera. I giggled.

"It's nothing. It's my old one. I figured you'd like to take some pictures of a certain blonde ninja instead of just watching him. I didn't expect a gift in return, it's okay, I promise." I told her, putting a hand on her shoulder. She blushed.

"Thank you Kiko. It was very nice of you to give me this." She said, looking at me with her big eyes. She even gave me a small smile. I smiled back and patted her hand.

"Well class is about to start, I better get back to my seat. Ja ne!" I told her happily as I went back to my seat, but not before I saw Naruto accidentally kiss Sasuke. I giggled when Sakura, Ino, and all the other girls who love Sasuke get really pissed, but continued to my desk.

"What, I don't get a present too?" Kiba asked obnoxiously.

"What? Didn't you hear? No one cares about mutts." I told him as I watched Iruka sensei enter the classroom. He made his little speech and then started announcing teams.

"Team seven, Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke." I giggled as Naruto looked happy, then depressed.

"Team eight, Hyuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba-" I was not happy. I glared at Kiba while he smirked. "- and Aburame Shino." I sighed.

"Team ten, Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Amikichi Chouji." I smiled, they might not be happy to have Ino on their team, but at least they were together. And that made me happy.

"Oh! I skipped team four! Sorry, the papers got mixed up. Team four consists of Kimura Tsukiko, Miura Kaito, and Shimizu Roka. Yosh! That's all for squad division. In the afternoon, I'll introduce you to your team leaders. You are dismissed." We all got up to leave, and I looked around for my new team mates. Their names sounded familiar, but I couldn't remember what they looked like.

Everyone flooded out with their new teams, and all that was left were two boys, me and Iruka. We all walked to the door.

"Hello, I'm Tsukiko. You can call me Kiko though." I said smiling. I looked at them, one of the boys was about my height and he had long silver hair that was up in a ponytail. He had pale blue eyes too; he looked kind of shy and scared. He kind of reminded me of Hinata. The other boy was tall and scrawny; he had a mop of sandy brown hair on top of his head, and his eyes were brown. He wouldn't sit still long enough for me to see what shade they were. He seemed like the type that couldn't sit still for very long.

"I'm Kaito. You can call me Kai if you want." The scrawny boy said in a semi-loud voice. I nodded with a smile.

"I-I'm Roka. People usually just call me Roka." The boy with silver hair said quietly. I smiled at them both.

"Well now that we're a team, why not eat together?" I suggested, and they both nodded. We walked outside, and Jun swooped out of a tree to land on my shoulder. Roka yelped and jumped back, looking scared. Kaito looked a little surprised too.

"Oh I'm so sorry! I'm so used to Jun that I forgot you two didn't know him. He's my owl. I'm sorry if he startled you, he won't hurt you." I told them anxiously. They went back to being relaxed. Well, I think Roka was relaxed; he still looked a little jumpy.

"Oh now I remember you! You're the girl whose dad trains all those birds right?" Kaito asked. I nodded.

"My dad usually trains Falcons, but we nurse sick birds back to health when we find them too." I told them. We spent the rest of lunch talking and eating. When we went back inside, we were all a lot more relaxed and excited over who are sensei would be.

As we entered the classroom, I saw my friends were already sitting with their teams. Shikamaru and Chouji waved, Chouji did it a bit more enthusiastically, while Shikamaru didn't even pick his head up and just rose his hand up, and back down again. I giggled and waved back. Hinata gave a small wave and smiled, and I waved back. Kiba glared at me from beside her. I glared straight back. He stuck his tongue out at me and I rolled my eyes.

My team and I went to sit at the front. A bunch of adults were standing at the front, our sensei's. I counted, and there were only nine. Where was the last one? Oh well. Just as long as ours was there.

"Alright everyone, listen up. These are your team leaders and your sensei's from now on." Iruka went on and assigned the first three teams, and then got to four.

"Team four, your leader is Takaki Hiroshi." We stood up as our leader stepped forward. He looked to be very excited, like he had just drunk eight super charged coffees or something. He had tan skin, and messy black hair that had electric blue highlights in it, it stuck up in every direction. His eyes were black, but warm. He kind of scared me.

"Onward team four! Follow me!" He shouted as he ran out the door like a six year old to a candy store. We all looked at each other and rushed out after him. We followed him until we were sitting under a tree at the back of the school, breathing hard. He grinned at us from where he stood in front of us.

"Well, I'm Hiroshi! I'm your new team leader. So tell me about yourselves. Your likes, dislikes, dreams, families, stuff like that!" He said happily with a huge grin on his face. "First, you'll start!" He said pointing at Kaito. Kaito just glared and sighed.

"I'm Kaito. I like my bed, I dislike sitting still for too long, and I have a mom and a dad and a little brat of a sister. And my dream is to become a jounin one day." Kaito said, pulling fistfuls of grass out of the ground.

"That's very good! Now you!" He said, pointing his finger at Roka. Roka flinched.

"Uh, I'm Roka. I like the sea, I dislike it when my friends argue, and I have a mom and an older brother. My dream is to do the best I can for my village. Whether that means I become a Chuunin or Jounin." Roka said timidly.

"Perfect! Now last but not least you!" He pointed his finger at me. I smiled and giggled.

"I'm Tsukiko, but you can call me Kiko. I like my owl Jun-" Jun hopped into my lap and I caressed his feathers. "-I dislike it when people make fun of other people and Kiba, and I have a dad. My dream is to become a Jounin too, and raise birds just like my dad does one day." I finished smiling.

"Yosh! Well it's been great getting to know you, but I gotta go! Meet me at training field six tomorrow at five in the morning, eat a good breakfast! Ja ne!" He told us, and was gone in a flash.

"Damn he's weird..." Kaito mumbled. Roka and I nodded in agreement.

**Did ya like it? Well I hope so. After the next chapter you'll see that I'll be jumping a lot of time, just because the real story lies in the future *wiggles fingers mysteriously*. Well anyways, this chapter got loaded a lot faster than I thought. Two in the same night! The next one'll get uploaded either later today or tomorrow. Ja ne!**

**-Ashley**


	3. Back to the Academy?

**Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. I own the plot and my characters. If I owned Naruto, Shino would be MINE! Anyways:**

**ENJOY!**

_Back to the Academy?_

After the meeting with our new sensei, we said goodbye and went home. I would've waited for Chouji, but I had no idea where he was at. That night I made dinner and ate, then went outside to feed the sick birds in our little bird keep behind the house. There were only three, so it wasn't hard to do by myself. I went to bed early, eager for the next day to come. Why did we have to get up so early? I set my alarm clock for four thirty. I would have just enough time to eat, get dressed, and get there in time.

I got a good night's sleep, and woke up on time. I got dressed in my usual outfit, and put my weapons pouch on too. I ran a brush through my long hair, and put it in a ponytail. But my bangs hung in my face, and I just tucked them behind my ear. I ate a hurried breakfast, and whistled for Jun once I was outside. A few seconds later I saw him flying above me. I smiled and took off at a run towards the training field.

When I got there, I saw Kaito was the first one there. I waved at him as I got closer. He waved back, but didn't say anything. So we waited and were soon joined by Roka. Not long after we saw Hiroshi walk up.

"Well hello there my genin friends!" Hiroshi said loudly and we all winced.

"How can you be so excited this early?" Kaito grumbled. Hiroshi just laughed.

"Yosh! I'm now going to test your ninja skills!" He told us as we sat down on the ground. He sat down across from us, grinning. He pulled something out of his bag and showed it to us. They were Shuriken. Each one was a different color, and there were five. We stared at them confusedly.

"Do you see these?" He asked, and we all nodded. "I have hidden these all around this training field. It is your job to find as many as you can. But there will be several things in your way. Ninjutsu's, Genjutsu's, Traps, ambushes, and I might even attack you. It gets harder and harder to find the net one after you find one. But look. There are three of you and five of these. If you find two, you're safe. If you only find one, you have to go back to the academy." He told us seriously. We all looked at each other, a little frightened, but determined.

"You'll have to use everything you have to find them. You have until noon. Its six now. Good luck." And then he was gone in a puff of smoke. I stood up.

"Good luck then, I guess." I told them as they stood up too. Kaito nodded and was about to take off when Roka started to say something.

"Don't you think we should stick together?" He asked timidly. Kaito snorted.

"What would be the point of that? We're supposed to find them by ourselves." He said, crossing his arms.

"What do you mean Roka?" I asked, confused.

"Well, he never said we had to do it on our own. We're a team, remember? He should already know us individually; he's testing us as a team. To see how we work together. Besides, we'll be worn out by the second one if we're on our own. Together we can save energy." He told us logically. I nodded.

"That makes sense. I agree, let's stay together." I said, looking at Kaito. He rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. You two go together. I'm doing it by myself." He said, annoyed.

"Wait. With the two of us we'll find them a lot faster than you will by yourself. That means we'll win, especially since I have Jun who will be able to see the shuriken from high up. Do you want to lose?" I asked him, a little harshly. He sighed and shook his head.

"Alright, but I get to pick where we look first." He said and was about to take off.

"Wait one second." I said. They both stopped as I called Jun down. The owl landed on my arm, and looked at me questioningly. I explained things to him, and he gave a soft hoot.

_"I'll look from above and come find you if I see one."_ He told me. I nodded and he took off.

"Let's go." I said. They nodded and Kaito led the way, opposite of the direction Hiroshi had gone.

It didn't take long to find the first one. It was orange all that was blocking it was a large pit that was covered with branches and leaves. We just jumped over it and grabbed the shuriken from where it was lodged in a tree.

The next one was purple and had a minor Genjutsu on it. We saw it and walked towards it, but we kept walking towards it, but we didn't get closer. Roka realized it was a Genjutsu when we had been walking for ten minutes, and we released it. Kaito was holding onto them, and we were wondering which way to go when Jun flew in and landed on a branch above us.

_"There's a green one in the stream to your left. I don't know what's hiding around it."_ Jun told me, flapping his wings. I smiled.

"Thanks Jun, you're a great help. Keep looking please." Jun hooted and took off. The boys looked at me curiously.

"There's one in the river over there." I told them, and we ran towards it. We saw it, but it was stuck to river floor, and there were several wires crisscrossing everywhere, which would more than likely trigger explosions if they were pulled. We all looked at each other.

"I can't do it. I don't know how to swim." I told them. They nodded.

"I get too clumsy under pressure. I'd blow us to bits." Roka admitted, shuffling his feet. We both looked at Kaito. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Alright fine, but you two will have to give me directions. I won't be able to see the wires that well." We nodded and he stripped down to his boxers and kicked off his shoes. I blushed and Roka looked away. Kaito doe in though, and started swimming after he had shivered from the cold. We steered him the right way, and before long he was back. He put his clothes back on after he climbed onto the shore. I couldn't help but notice he was kind of cute without a shirt on. But I shook that from my head.

"Where to next?" I asked.

"Well, I think we should head deeper into the forest. Haven't you noticed how much thicker the woods get each time we find one?" Kaito asked as we walked. I nodded, but then saw something shine at his foot.

"Kaito watch out!" I pulled him back and we fell back onto the ground.

"What was that for?" He yelled from beside me. I pointed at the wire in front of us. Roka had been behind us, so he was safe. Kaito looked at it and his angry expression fell away.

"Oh. Thanks." He muttered and stood up. I followed his lead and brushed the dirt off of my clothes. We kept walking. It was about nine now, and I couldn't believe it had taken us that long to find the first three. I heard a screech from above and glance up. Jun was circling. He wanted us to follow.

"Follow Jun." I commanded, and took off as my owl sped forwards. We chased him for what seemed like forever, I was starting to think it was another Genjutsu, before we came to a clearing. It was a circle with trees all around. There was an identical yellow one hanging from each branch.

"Well this is just great." Kaito grumbled, glancing around. Roka went to reach for one, but I stopped him.

"They might be clones, or they could pull you into a Genjutsu if you touch them. Just throw kunai at them." I told them. They nodded, and we all threw kunai at three of them. It did nothing.

"I guess we're gonna have to touch them." Roka said quietly, looking at the shuriken uneasily. We nodded and stepped forward and touched one. I tried to pull mine down but screamed when it transformed into Hiroshi. I heard a yelp to my right and looked over, Roka's had exploded, and Kaito had passed out after he had touched it. I looked at Hiroshi.

"I have to fight you don't I?" He nodded and attacked with a kunai. I deflected and whistled. Jun swooped down and swiped his talons at Hiroshi's face. He was gone in a puff of smoke.

"Shadow clone." I murmured, and ran over to Roka. The explosion turned out to be just itching powder. He was scratching all over, but he was fine. We went over to Kaito. He was awake.

"Made me think I was at the academy in one of our old classes." He said grumpily. "What did I miss?" He asked. We shrugged and explained it to him. We inspected the shuriken after that. There were six left. Two had explosion tags on them, identical to what had been on Roka's. Two kept wiggling. Those were the ones Hiroshi's clones had transformed into. One was a Genjutsu one, and I had touched it. It made me think it was snowing and I was getting buried under all of the snow. I freed it easily. The last one was the right one.

"One left." I said tiredly. They nodded, and we ran off, searching for the next one. We were suddenly attacked from all sides, by clones. I yelped as one attacked me, but I punched it and it exploded. We stayed and fought them off, but they weren't diminishing.

"Is it a Genjutsu?" I screamed at Roka when we got close.

"No! I tried to dispel it already. It didn't work." I was getting pissed off. It was time to use _that._ I jumped up onto a branch above me when I got a chance. I signaled Jun and he came and perched on the branch beside me. He had been helping too. I made a few hand signals with my hands, and then placed my right one on Jun's back.

"A thousand deadly feathers Jutsu!"(**1**) I screamed, and Jun sped up into the sky. Suddenly, his feathers all fell off of him, but grew back just as quick. The feathers that had fallen off turned hard and pointed, and fell towards the clones quickly.

"Kaito! Roka! Get out of the way!" I yelled, and they jumped to another tree just in time. My ninjutsu took care of the clones, but we were all exhausted, and we only had an hour left.

"Are you alright?" Roka asked as he jumped onto my branch. I nodded.

"Just takes a lot of chakra is all." I told him as I stood up. "Let's keep going." They nodded and we started running again. Suddenly I tripped and everything was black.

I was in a room, it was dark and dirty. I was sitting in a chair, it was the only piece of furniture in the room, and there wasn't even a door or window that I could see at least. There was a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling. Suddenly everything got cold. I started to shiver but stood up.

"Release!" I shouted and made the hand signal. Nothing happened. It was a strong one.

_Do you really think you're good enough? Do you think you could make your father proud? You can't. You won't become a Jounin. You'll go back to the academy before the day is up. You're nothing like you're mother. She was a powerful Kunoichi, who was smart and beautiful. You'll never be like her. _It was a dark emotionless voice that said that. I snarled.

"You know nothing of my mother! Back the fuck off creep!" I yelled, and backed up to the wall. I ran full force at the opposite wall, angling my left arm at it. I connected and felt a searing pain in my shoulder. But I opened my eyes and saw I was out of the Genjutsu. But the boys weren't. I stumbled over. I actually had crashed into the tree and my shoulder hurt like nothing I had felt before. I placed my good hand on Kaito's back.

"Release." I mumbled. I did the same for Roka, and they both woke up looking confused and frightened. They both looked at me a gasped.

"You're bleeding…" Kaito mumbled, staring at my arm. I looked at it. It was bleeding.

"I'm fine, let's go." I told them. They nodded, and yet again we started running. Next we ran into another crisscrossing pattern of wires. We had to be careful, stepping through and jumping at the right places. When we were out, we came into another clearing.

"Oh god not again." Kaito moaned. I frowned and pulled out a kunai when we saw Hiroshi step out from behind a tree. He smiled and held up his hands in a friendly way.

"Well! You surprised me! You've made it this far. But now, you have to get the last one from me. I will give you five minutes to strategize a plan. Begin." We huddled together, eyeing the blue one tied to his wrist. We talked, whispering, and then we stood up when we were ready. Roka handed me what I needed and I nodded. The two boys flew off to the trees on either side of me, leaving me, Hiroshi, and Jun all alone.

"Are you ready? Well then. Attack!" He yelled, smiling. I ran towards him, and threw the little ball at the ground. We were engulfed by smoke, and I did a backflip to get away from him. Jun swooped into the smoke and disappeared. I followed. I saw Jun suddenly appear in front of Hiroshi, which made our sensei jump into the air. I jumped too, and kicked his chest at an angle.

He was sent flying. Kaito and Roka appeared, and punched and kicked our sensei in mid-air. They launched themselves away, and I jumped off of Jun's back until I was above Hiroshi, and flung a Kunai with an explosion tag at him. It exploded, and I crashed to the ground and gasped as I landed on my hurt shoulder.

Jolts of pain radiated through my body, but I looked to see if we got him. He stood leaning against a tree while panting, and Roka and Kaito were collapsed on the ground, but I saw a glint of blue in Roka's hand. I grinned, and looked at my watch. Ten minutes to spare.

"You all did much better than I expected. Great job. You all pass." He said smiling at us.

"Aren't you gonna ask if we got the other shuriken?" Kaito asked. Hiroshi shook his head.

"You accomplished what this was about. Team work. Even if you had gotten them all by yourselves, each of you would've failed because you're supposed to work as a team. You have Roka to thank for your passing grade." We all smiled and sat up. I groaned and clutched my shoulder.

"Kiko, are you all right? I think you need to go to the hospital." Roka said anxiously as he crouched down next to me. I shook my head.

"It's just a little blood. No big deal." I told him and stood up, wincing. Hiroshi frowned and walked over.

"Let me see." He said, and gently held my shoulder. "Nope, off to the hospital. You've sprained it, and there's a chunk of wood sticking out of your shoulder. You'll get an infection. I'll take you there. And here I was planning on taking you all out to eat in celebration! Oh well, we'll do it tomorrow. Roka and Kaito, you can go home. Well, you guys look pretty cut up too. We'll all go! It'll be a fieldtrip!" He said happily, and started skipping towards Konoha hospital. We groaned but followed him.

"Sorry guys, if I ruined your fun." I said quietly as we followed Hiroshi. Roka smiled at me.

"We would've had to go anyways. Don't worry about it. I bet they have a remedy for this itching powder. I'm glad we're going." He admitted, scratching his head, and then tried to get one on his back. I reached my right hand over and scratched it for him. He blushed and thanked me.

"Yeah, we're a team now. One of us gets injured; we stick together and help each other out. Like what you did with the heavy genjutsu." Kaito said with a smirk. I laughed and nodded.

"We're gonna make a great team." I told them with a happy smile.

"Of course we are, because I'm your leader. Without me y'all would be lost and pathetic." Hiroshi said obnoxiously back to us.

"You're the one who caused us to get hurt." Kaito pointed out, and we all laughed when Hiroshi looked crestfallen.

"I'll make it up to you, lunch is on me tomorrow. They probably won't let you out of the hospital tonight." Hiroshi said grinning while we groaned. I could already tell I was gonna have a lot to deal with until I became a Chuunin. But I didn't mind.

**(1)- I came up with it when I saw Itachi use the genjutsu to became a ton of birds.**

**Soooo…. Didja like it? I know the action scenes aren't that great, but only because I haven't written many before. If you see any problems with it, tell me so I can fix them. Thanks a bunch for reading!**


	4. Bump In's and Cloud Watching

**Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto because if I did Sasuke would have pink hair and everyone would hate him. J I do own my oc's and the plot. And the mac'n'chese I'm eating. That is all.**

_Bump-ins and cloud watching_

Time passed by, and before I knew it, I had been a genin for four months! During that time I had had plenty of missions, never ending it seemed. We had had ten D-rank missions and two C-rank missions. It wasn't much, but I felt we were doing well. Hiroshi-sensei was actually a great teacher. He was a great strategist, so he liked to teach us strategies and gave us scenarios where we had to think quickly to get out of them. My father had even taught me a new jutsu. I had also found a little owlet in the woods all by itself, and I was raising it and it would be strong enough to start training in a few months.

I was currently in the market, getting groceries for home since we had little food in the house. I had just finished paying for the last of it when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and gasped when I saw Chouji, and behind him was Shikamaru.

"Chouji! Shikamaru! I haven't seen you two in ages!" I squealed as I hugged Chouji, and he patted my back. I giggled and stepped away, and then hugged Shikamaru too. He went tense, but then awkwardly patted my back too.

"It has been a while, hasn't it? How've you been doing?" Chouji asked smiling. I grinned back.

"I've been great. My sensei's been teaching my team a lot. His energy wears us down though. He's like a grown-up Naruto." I giggled, rolling my eyes.

"It's a little crowded here, Shika and I were just about to get Barbeque pork, wanna come?" Chouji asked, while Shikamaru was just looking up at the sky. I nodded happily, and followed the two boys inside the restaurant, putting my groceries in the corner. I sat down as Chouji called out our order. When the pork came, I broke my chopsticks, and put a few pieces on the grill and got some rice too. They did the same and we were quiet.

"So how're things coming along with your team?" I asked them, smiling. Shikamaru shrugged and Chouji launched into their teams latest mission. When Chouji took a bite of pork, Shikamaru opened his mouth to speak.

"Are you growing your hair out? It looks longer." Shikamaru commented, looking at my hair. I blushed.

"Yeah, Kaito and Roka told me it would look even better if I grew it out longer." Right now it ends right above my butt. I was worried it was getting a bit too long, but no one seemed to mind. I had had to cut my bangs myself though. I took a bite of my pork and some rice.

"Where's Jun?" Chouji asked between mouthfuls. I giggled.

"I found an owlet a few weeks ago. Jun has been attached to her since we found her. I'm planning on training her when she's strong enough. Have you guys learned anything new?" I asked. They both nodded and Chouji told me about what sounded like a human wrecking ball jutsu.

"My dad taught me shadow possession." Was all that Shikamaru said.

So we went on talking and we finished our meal, when all of us reached for our wallets at the same time. I pulled mine out; it's shaped like a brown feather (**1**), and went to pull money out when Chouji and Shikamaru held up their hands.

"I'll pay." Chouji said. Shikamaru shook his head.

"No, I'll pay." He said. I frowned.

"Uh-uh, I'm paying." I told them while shaking my head. Chouji shrugged and put his wallet away but Shikamaru frowned and rolled his eyes.

"How troublesome. I can't allow a woman to pay." He objected, laying down the money. I pushed it back and put mine down. We glared at each other. But I couldn't help but feel happy he had called me a 'woman'. Even if he was being sexist.

"Rock, paper, scissors?" Chouji suggested. We nodded.

"Rock paper, scissors, shoot!" I held out rock, and Shikamaru had paper. His hand covered mine, and I blushed a bit at how soft his hand was.

"I win." He said, putting his money out, and I put mine away, frowning. He and Chouji laughed when they saw me pouting.

"If it matters that much you can pay next time." Shikamaru said, smiling. I grinned and nodded. I stood up and stretched.

"Well I've gotta get this stuff home. Ja ne!" I told them while picking up my groceries. I waved goodbye and took off for home.

After I had gotten home and put everything away, I had gone to check on the little owl. I had no idea what to call it. I shook my head and decided I would name her later. I got bored quickly since I was home alone. My dad was out on a mission, so I had no one to talk to. Except the birds of course, but most of them only care about mice or squirrels.

So I decided I would read. I bounded up to my room, and stared at my book case. I had already read my books millions of times. I sighed. Maybe I would just go to the library instead.

So I put my shoes back on and raced along the rooftops to the library, but stopped when I passed Shikamaru and Chouji's favorite hangout place. Maybe human interaction was better than reading. They wouldn't mid, would they? We hadn't talked in forever, and all of us had seemed a little awkward at lunch. With a nod, I walked over to the little covered bench. I looked to see if they were there, but I only saw one person.

Upon closer inspection, I saw it was Shikamaru. I shrugged and walked over.

"Hey Shika." I said quietly with a smile and sat down next to him. He looked over and nodded.

"Yo." Was all he said and I giggled. He looked at me curiously.

"It's funny that that's the way you always greet people." I answered his unspoken question. He nodded.

"What're you doing here?" He asked me as he lay back on the bench, and I shrugged.

"I was gonna go to the library, but when I passed here I thought you and Chouji might be here. I figured it would be better to talk to someone to pass the time rather than read." I told him, looking up at the clouds. He nodded.

"You know, I'm not really the best person for talking." He told me. I giggled.

"I know. But I haven't seen you or Chouji in a while, so I wanted to come hang out." I told him. He nodded and we sat in silence, and I pulled my hair over my shoulder and started to braid it.

"It looks nice." Shikamaru said all of a sudden. I looked over at him, then up to the sky. I nodded.

"It is very nice out today. I have a feeling all those clouds means we'll have rain though." I remarked, but to my surprise he shook his head.

"I mean you're hair. It looks good long." He told me. I was shocked. He never gave complements. I always assumed he was too lazy to notice if someone was pretty or something. I blushed and smiled.

"Thanks. Where's Chouji at anyways?" I asked, and he smiled.

"His cousin is coming over for dinner or something. He's helping his mom out with the food." He said. I nodded and abandoned my hair. I lay back as well, and stared at the clouds.

"That one looks like a turtle." I said, pointing at one. He looked at it and laughed.

"The one next to it looks like a shark." He commented. I felt my brows furrow.

"What? No it looks like a pirate ship." He shook his head.

"Shark." He told me. I couldn't help it, I laughed. Soon he joined in.

We kept commenting on the clouds and talked about whatever came to mind, until the sun started to set. I sighed as I sat up and groaned.

"How are you able to lie on this thing all the time? I feel like I'll be stiff for a week." I told him laughing. He sat up too, and shrugged.

"I'm immune to the stiffness I think." He told me, smiling. "The best thing for it though is Ramen. Your treat." He told me smiling. I laughed and nodded. I knew we were both hungry.

So we walked to Ichiraku, which wasn't far. We talked to Ayame and Teuchi while we ate, since we seemed to be the only one's there.

"So." Ayame propped her head up on her hands. "Are you two on a _date_?" She asked with a mischievous smirk. We both blushed, and while Shikamaru choked on some of the broth, I shook my head frantically.

"We're just friends." I told her. I could tell my eyes were huge. She burst out laughing.

"Too bad. You two would be cute together." She told us as she walked off before we could object. Shikamaru chuckled nervously.

"Could you imagine? Us? Together? Wow." He said. I nodded.

"Couldn't be farther from the truth." I replied. I finished mine and we talked a bit more before we headed home (Not before I paid of course).

As I walked home though, I couldn't help but think that maybe it wouldn't be so bad to be with Shikamaru.

**(1)- Since Naruto has one of a toad, I thought it would be funny if she had something bird-related. I think it would borer on a crack-fic if Shika pulled out one shaped like a cloud 0.o**

**Ohmygoodness! It seems the romance has started a bit sooner than I anticipated! So what did ya think? Just to let you guys know- after we see Kiba next, you guys can start voting on who you want her to be with! I got this idea also from ****Cry just a little**** by ****PurpleHaze09.** **She had her readers vote too ^-^ **

**Well anyways, hope you enjoyed!**

**-Ashley**


	5. Decisions and Thievery

**Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto. If I did this story would actually be in Naruto, and Shino would be mine. I do own my Oc's and the plot. That's about it.**

**Warning- I looked it up, and it said that about nine months passed from the time they graduated to the Chuunin exams, but I'm making it come a bit sooner, so please don't get mad at me. :D Enjoy!**

_Decisions and Thievery_

Over the course of the week, I quickly brushed off the few thoughts I had about Shikamaru. I reasoned that the only reason I had thought those things was because he was cute and I hadn't actually hung out with my friends I a while. So I would shrug and smile, knowing it was nothing.

Though, of course we had a few D-rank missions that week, and Hiroshi was working us really hard when we trained. Right now we were walking dogs around dogs around Konoha for several different civilians. I was walking two dogs, one a really big one (I'm not sure what he is though) and he was a big sweet heart, and the other one was a smaller terrier looking dog, who kept yipping and wanting to chase things.

Kaito and Roka each walked two dogs as well, and we had almost finished, the homes of the dogs being only a little ways away. In fact, Kaito turned and knocked on a door while Roka and I waited for him. Kaito came back blushing and missing a dog. I giggled.

"You couldn't have taken the poodle? Why did I have to have the damn fluff ball?" Kaito asked me, embarrassed. I laughed at him, and kept walking.

"Because I don't want to look girly." I told him, giggling. He huffed.

"With those attacks of yours I think the last thing people would call you would be girly." I smiled.

"Aww, so you really do like me Kaito!" I joked, and nudged his shoulder. Roka and I laughed when he flushed an even deeper shade of red.

"Shut up!" He glared at us.

Since we had become a team, each of us had changed. Kaito was able to sit still for longer, and joked around a lot now too. Roka wasn't so shy and nervous around us now, and wasn't terrified to crack a joke every now and again. Hiroshi was the same as always, hyper and annoying. Although we could never understand his strange training and mission schedule, we had all developed a fond spot for him.

Roka dropped off his dogs; they both belonged to the same person. Then Kaito delivered his last dog, and I still had mine and we had another block to go. Roka and Kaito were nice and stayed with me instead of going on ahead to the barbeque place where we were going to meet Hiroshi for lunch.

"Hey, how's that little owl coming along?" Roka asked. I smiled, but before I could answer, someone jumped off the roof of the house next to us, on to the street in front of us. I groaned and rolled my eyes when I saw who it was.

"So you decided you like dogs after all, eh?" That annoying voice said. I scowled, and kept walking.

"No, I've always liked dogs. I just don't like _mutts_." I answered nonchalantly, while smirking. Roka and Kaito followed me, but Kiba caught up and walked on my right. I rolled my eyes.

"What do you want mutt?" I asked, annoyed. I knew he was smirking.

"Just wondering if you all knew about the Chuunin exams coming up." He said.

"Yeah, what about them?" I asked, as I approached the first house of the dogs. A man answered and took the terrier. I kept walking, but put myself between Roka and Kaito.

"Did your sensei put you in them? 'Cause mine did. Told us yesterday. I guess if you weren't told yet, your sensei didn't think you were strong enough." He told us. Two seconds later, Kaito had him pinned against a wall with a kunai at his throat.

"Wanna say that again, _mutt_?" Kaito snarled. I smirked. Kaito didn't like to be told he was weak. He had had a disease when he was a kid, and everyone had thought he was going to be too sick to be a ninja. That's why he's so scrawny and pale. But he had exceeded their expectations, and had become a genin. I turned to look at them. Kiba looked surprised, but I noticed he didn't have Akamaru with him.

"Come on Kaito, I'm hungry. Leave him alone." I said, walking over and putting a hand on his shoulder. He nodded and walked over to Roka.

"Besides, we don't want to have to put Kiba in the hospital before the Chuunin exams, now do we?" I said snottily as we walked away.

"Like a fatso like you could beat me!" He called out angrily. I froze. Roka put a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. You're certainly not fat." He said comfortingly, while Kaito glared at Kiba. I smiled.

"I know. I'm curvy, and he's jealous he can't have me." I said loud enough for him to hear, and then we walked off before he could respond.

Kiba blinked. What the hell? That retort had always worked! Curvy? She wasn't curvy, was she?

He looked at retreating form and studied closely. She certainly had hips, he noticed. He remembered when she had stood right in front of him. He flushed when he recalled her chest had gotten a bit bigger.

Alright, so what? She was curvy. He didn't care. She was still an annoying little brat. He hadn't even seen her fight, and that was the only thing that mattered. Whether you were strong or not. He shook his head and shoved his hands in his pockets, and walked the opposite way.

I sat across the table from Hiroshi and Kaito, with Roka on my left. We were eating, but Hiroshi looked troubled. I set my chopsticks down. They all looked at me.

"Hiroshi-sensei, what's wrong?" I asked quietly, staring at him. He bowed his head, and set his chopsticks down as well.

"I-I entered you all into the Chuunin exams." He stated quietly. We all stared at each other amazed. Roka looked anxious.

"Do- Do you really think we're ready? We just became genin not that long ago." If it were a few months ago, I know I would've yelled at him for saying that. But now I couldn't help but agree.

Hiroshi picked his head up, and gave us a look of determination. "I know you all are ready. Whether you realize it or not, you are all strong, smart, and excellent genin. I know you'll make it. Especially since you all have such good team work. I'm only nervous because you all have similar qualities, you won't be able to defend yourself against all of the attacks. Here, these are your applications." He held out three slips of paper. We each took one and studied it. "You don't have to take the exam. It's completely up to you whether you take it or not. Sign it and bring it with you to Room 301 at the academy, six days from now. Oh, at three in the afternoon too." He stood up, and threw some money on the table.

"I believe you guys will do well." He told us, smiling. I was scared, so I stopped him.

"Wait! What if- What if we _don't_ do well? Will you be disappointed?" I asked cautiously. He smiled and walked over to me. He ruffled my hair and I cringed while he laughed.

"What ifs are pointless when you already know what's going to happen. You all know you'll do fine. You don't have any missions so you have time to rest up for the exam. Ja ne!" He disappeared in a puff of smoke. We all looked at each other.

We finished our meal quietly, thinking things over. I finished, and made up my mind. I stared at them both.

"I don't know about you two, but I'm going to make my dad proud. Quitting is for pre-genin who don't know how to throw a shuriken. I'm not a quitter." I told them decisively. Kaito nodded.

"I agree. I'm going." He said to us, and we looked at Roka. I gave him a soft smile. He looked troubled.

"Don't worry Roka. We're not going to pressure you into it. Take your time to decide. Don't go just because we will." I told him comfortingly, putting a hand on his shoulder. He surprised us both when he picked his head up, and gave us hard, determined looks.

"I'm going. I refuse to sit by like a child while everyone else makes something of themselves. I'm tired of being the scaredy-cat." He told us. We looked at each other and grinned. I threw my arms around him, in a hug.

"That's it Roka! We're so proud of you! You'll become a powerful shinobi one day, you know." I told him, as he blushed from the attention. Kaito nodded.

"Well, I'll see you both later, kay?" I told them. They nodded, and I walked out. I smiled as Jun flew down onto my shoulder to greet me. I patted his head, and started for home.

I frowned as I walked down a busy street. What was all that noise? I jogged over to a jewelry store, where a bunch of noise was coming from. Just then, a suspicious person ran out clutching big bags that were jingling. He knocked me over as he ran as fast as he could away from the store.

"What the…?" I asked as I stood up. A big man rushed out of the store, shaking his fist in rage.

"GET BACK HERE WITH MY JEWELRY!" The big man shouted after the mysterious person. I gasped.

"Did that man steal?" I asked. The man nodded as he started to weep. I placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll get it back." I told him. Before he could react, I was chasing the person with Jun soaring overhead. I was the fastest out of my team, so it was no surprise that I caught up to him quickly. But he headed into the forest quickly. He upped his speed, so I did the same. I had to be fast to keep up with our birds, so it was no trouble for me.

He dropped into a clearing, and I followed. I gasped when I saw a little girl tied to a tree. Wait a second! I had met that girl before! She was Kaito's sister! I felt fury rise up in me as the man turned and faced me. He was heavily clothed, so I couldn't see much of him. He held a Kunai at the girl's throat.

"Don't come any closer! I'll kill her!" He warned. I snarled, but stayed where I was.

"What do you want?" I yelled.

"I want the First Hokage's scroll of sealing! Bring it to me, and I'll release the brat." I gasped. There was no way I could do that. I crossed my arms in front of me, and placed my weight on my left leg, smirking.

"And if I say… No?" I asked smugly. He frowned.

"You want me to kill her? I will!" He said.

"Pfft. Like I give a crap about her. Just another whining brat if you ask me. You'd be doing us all a favor." I told him, smirking evilly at Kaito's sister. Her eyes welled up with tears, and she struggled against her ropes. He looked like he was at a loss of what to do. While he was distracted, I moved in a blur and placed a bunch of twigs in the girls place, and jumped up onto the tree with her, while removing the cloth from around her mouth.

The man looked dumb-struck. "How the hell did you do that?" He screamed. I pointed behind him. He looked back and saw "me" disappear in a puff of smoke, and there was Jun instead. I flashed Jun a signal, and I threw down a smoke ball.

"Stay here." I told the girl. She nodded, and I jumped into the smoke. Jun flew at him, which made the guy jump back in an attempt to get away, but I appeared and kicked his chest. He flew into the air. I jumped so I was above him, and threw three kunai which lodged in his chest, and gave him a huge punch so he slammed into the ground.

"Did you get him?" A scared voice asked. I looked up, and saw Kaito's sister looking terrified on the branch above me. I nodded in a satisfied way, and she grinned. I walked over to where the man was, but when the dust cleared, I saw it was just a big stone with three kunai lodged in it. I gasped and looked around. It seems he escaped. I frowned.

"It's okay, you can come down. He fled." I told the girl, and she nodded. She jumped down, while I grabbed the bag of jewelry. Why would he run? If he felt confident enough to kidnap a girl, he must've known he was going to have to deal with shinobi. He would've had to have thought he was strong enough to take on at least Chuunin. Why would he be so easily defeated by a mere genin? I wasn't cocky enough to think I could really be stronger than him.

I shook my head. It was okay. It didn't matter as long as I had kept Kaito's sister safe. I gave her a piggy back ride home, and delivered the jewelry back. The man tried to give me a reward, but I refused.

"A shinobi's job is to protect his village. We don't expect anything in return." I told him with a smile. He smiled and thanked me again. I nodded and went home. I wonder what Kaito and Roka are doing?

**Yosh! So, before the Chuunin exams, it seems they gave everyone a test to see if they were ready. Go back and look and you'll see it's true. I admit, I wasn't very creative, because it was a lot like Naruto's test, but whatever, right? **

** Alright, so I'm postponing the voting thing for now. If you really want to, you can go ahead, but it might be a while before I use them.**

**Next up: Chuunin exam! (The first part)**

**P.S. I'd love some reviews! But you don't have to if you don't want to. I totally understand, because I don't usually leave them either. ^-^**

**-Ash**


	6. Chuunin Exam, Part 1

**Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto just my OC's and the plot. :D**

**If anyone was wondering, Jun is a screech owl. **

_Chuunin exam, Part 1_

I waited outside the academy, glancing around nervously for my team to show up. I was early, but I hadn't been able to wait any longer. Even Jun seemed nervous, which was very uncommon. It was about two thirty, and I was wondering if they had given up and decided not to show, when they appeared around the corner talking. I rolled my eyes and laughed.

"You guys had me worried for a minute." I told them, smiling. They gave nervous smiles, and we walked inside. We went up two flights of stairs and were crossing the hallway when we saw a bunch of kids outside of a room. I looked up at the number, it read 301.

"Well, we found the place." Kaito said, and I nodded. We walked forward when a boy almost flew into us, and landed on the ground next to me. I gasped.

"Are you alright?" I asked him, bending over to see him better. Kaito was arguing with the boy who had punched the guy next to me. The boy looked up at me. He had a bowl-cut hairstyle, and his hair was black and glossy. He had big, intense black eyes that seemed to bore through me, and I had to force down a cringe. He wore a green jumpsuit-like-thing with his Hitai-ate tied around his waist, and he wore orange leggings. He stood up and held his thumb up at me while smiling.

"Hai! Thank you for worrying about me, beautiful miss." The boy said. I blushed but smiled.

"No problem, I'm Kimura Tsukiko." I told him. He seemed overjoyed about something. Maybe he couldn't get a lot of girls to talk to him? I mentally shrugged.

"I'm Rock Lee, everyone calls me Lee though." He told me. I nodded.

"You can call me Kiko, but for right now I'm afraid I have to go drag my team mate off that boy." I excused myself, and literally dragged Kaito off the boy.

"What are you doing?" He asked me, as I rolled my eyes.

"Can't you tell? It's a genjutsu. We're only on the second floor." Roka told him, and I nodded as we walked up the stairs. He got quiet and flushed, probably embarrassed he hadn't noticed.

As we reached the hallway, we saw someone standing at the end of it.

"Hiroshi-sensei?" I asked, confused.

"Hai." He nodded.

"What are you doing here?" Roka asked. Hiroshi smiled nervously at us. I was a bit freaked out. I had never seen Hiroshi sensei so out of character.

"Well, you see, I had to make sure all three of you came. The exam is a team thing. If even one of you had not come, you would not be allowed to take the exam." He told us, smiling. I frowned.

"Why not tell us?" I asked, annoyed. He looked down at his feet, and looked back up.

"I was afraid you might force Roka to do it, and then he wouldn't give everything he had to win. You know? I wanted him to want to be here. Not for him to feel like he had to do it." Hiroshi told us, staring at Roka who looked shocked. Roka himself shook his head.

"I really do want to be here." Roka told him, smiling. Hiroshi nodded and grinned. He held out his arms.

"Group hug!" Hiroshi yelled, and scooped us all up in a bone-crushing hug. I giggled from my spot next to Roka, who was in between me and Kaito. He finally released us. He glanced at Jun, who was perched on the window sill, and I could feel the amusement dripping from the little owl. Hiroshi walked over, and petted Jun.

"Good luck to all of you. I'll see you later." He told us, and was gone in his customary puff of smoke. I smirked and shook my head, taking a deep breath.

"You guys ready?" Kaito asked, his hand on the door, waiting to push it open. I stood up straight and gave him a determined look. I nodded, and saw Roka do the same. Jun flitted onto my shoulder, and Kaito pushed the door open.

We all stepped inside, and I gasped as I saw the room was filled with genin. Before I could take them all in, I heard something to my right. I looked over and saw Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke. Ino was currently dangling off of Sasuke's neck and I rolled my eyes as I walked over. Kaito and Roka followed. Shikamaru and Chouji stepped up behind Ino and I grinned as I saw them.

"What's up with this?" Shikamaru said in a bored tone, while Chouji munched on some chips.

"Are you guys going to take this bothersome exam too?" He asked Naruto's team. He didn't seem to have noticed us yet. Before I could say anything, Naruto beat me to it.

"Oh, it's the idiot trio." Naruto said, leaning towards Shikamaru.

"Quit calling us that! Man this is a freaking bother…" I walked closer, and smacked Naruto's head.

"It's not polite to insult people. And if I recall, you had the bottom grades in the class back at the academy. So you really shouldn't be talking." I told him, smirking.

"Hi Shikamaru! Hi Chouji!" I told both of my friends. Chouji stopped eating long enough to wave and smile, while Shikamaru nodded.

"HEY!" Naruto yelled at me. I rolled my eyes at him. I walked back to my team, but as I did, Kiba and his team approached. I frowned and crossed my arms.

"Yahoo! I found you." Kiba announced as he and his team stopped at the edge of the group. I caught Hinata's eye and smiled at her. She smiled back and gave a small wave.

"My my, everybody's here. Even fowl girl." He shot in my direction.

"Naruto, I take that back. There is only one person stupider than you. And it's that mutt." I told Naruto, and he had been grinning until he realized I had still called him stupid.

"HEY" He shouted once again, but it was ignored.

"H-Hello." Hinata said quietly. Naruto looked up at her.

"At least I'm not a pathetic, fat, fowl girl." He snarled at me. I rolled my eyes, smirking. I gestured to my body.

"I'm not fat. I'm curvy." I told him. He flushed and looked away. I waited for a come-back, but it didn't come. I looked at him curiously, but shrugged. He is an idiot after all. Probably can't come up with anything other than 'Fowl girl'. If I had paid attention, I would've seen Shikamaru stare at me for a few moments.

"What did you say? You guys too? Man." Shikamaru said to Kiba.

"Ha! I see. This means all twelve rookies are taking the exam, eh…! Now then, how far can we go? Eh, Sasuke?" Kiba said to Sasuke, who he was facing.

"Hm. You're mighty confident Kiba." Sasuke replied, while Ino looked pissed at Kiba's comment. I smirked; I really didn't like Ino all that much. My dad always told me to forgive people who say bad things to other people, but Ino was always bringing up that I needed to go on a diet or something whenever I was around her. Even now I still couldn't forgive her.

"We've trained a great deal, so, we won't lose to you guys!" Kiba told him, matter-of-factly.

"Shut up!" Naruto said. "I don't know about Sasuke, but I won't lose to the likes of you!" Naruto pointed at Kiba.

"I'm sorry Naruto." Hinata said, pushing her fingers together. "Kiba didn't mean it like that…"

"Huh?" Naruto asked, leaning closer, like he couldn't hear her. I rolled my eyes, but smiled when Hinata blushed. Kiba looked over at her. Just then, Chouji took a step closer to Kiba, but Shino stopped him by stepping in front of him.

"What?" Chouji asked. Shino looked at the ground, where a bug was crawling.

"Don't step on it." Shino commanded.

"Huh?" Chouji asked.

"I said, don't step on it." Shino said, standing up straight again.

"You're… gonna eat that?" Chouji asked, and I giggled. I already knew about Shino. Back at the academy, Jun had struggled to obey my rule of not eating Shino's bugs. Shino knew I would keep Jun under control. I didn't feel like having my owl dying from some parasitic bug of Shino's in revenge.

"Hey, you guys!" Came from our left. I looked up and saw a boy walking over. He had silver hair, had glasses, and wore a Konoha head band. I had never seen him before. "You should be a little quieter." The boy told us.

"You guys are the "Rookie twelve" fresh out of the academy, right? Carrying on with cute faces like that? Man." I felt myself blush as his gaze shifted over us. "This isn't a field trip." He told us. I frowned.

"Who're you? Acting all haughty!" Ino yelled out.

"I'm Yakushi Kabuto. Anyway, take a good look around you." We all looked around, but I just rolled my eyes. I already knew they were staring at us.

"Behind you, they're from the rain village. They're hot tempered. Everyone's tense before the exam. I thought I'd warn you guys before you get your butts whipped." He told us. I was cautious. Why was he helping us out?

"I guess it can't be helped." He sighed, and we all looked at him again. "You're rookies who don't know left from right." I got angry, but kept cool. Who does this guy think he is? He looks older than us, and he's not a chuunin yet. "You remind me of my old self." He told us.

"You're Kabuto, right?" Sakura asked.

"Yes." He told her.

"Then, this is your second time?" She asked him.

"No, it's my seventh." He told us, shaking his head. I was shocked. I knew it couldn't be his first time, but I had no idea it was his seventh. Why hadn't he quit yet?

"Huh?" Shikamaru asked, looking perplexed. I giggled. He looked kind of cute with that look, but I shook my head and looked at Kabuto again.

"The exam is held twice a year, so this is my fourth year." He explained.

"Then that means you know a lot about the exams?" I asked, stepping forward. I was curious if he could help us.

"Kind of." He told me.

"Kabuto, you're pretty awesome, huh?" Naruto said, looking excited.

"But you haven't passed." Shikamaru pointed out.

"Yeah, well, that is the cases, yes." He said nervously, scratching his head.

"Is the chuunin exam that high a hurdle?" Shikamaru asked, and then tsked. "Man this is utterly bothersome." I walked over and put my hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry Shika; I'm sure it'll be easy for you." I told him with a smile. A pale pink tinted his cheeks and he nodded while taking step back. I frowned, what was wrong? Oh, I bet he doesn't want to look bad in front of everyone.

"Then maybe I'll give a bit of information to my cute juniors." Kabuto said, while I rolled my eyes. Who was he calling cute? He pulled something out of his pocket, and I looked closer. They were cards.

"With these Ninja Info cards." He told us.

"Ninja Info cards?" Kaito asked, stepping a bit closer, with Roka following.

"To put it simply, they're cards that information burned into them and coded with chakra. I spent four whole years collecting information for this exam." He told us, kneeling down and placing the cards on the ground.

"There are close to two hundred of these cards." He told us, and I gasped. How did he get information like that? "They are pure white to the eye…" He flipped one over and it was blank. "To open the data on these cards…" He started spinning the card with one finger.

"What're you doing?" Roka asked quietly, watching curiously.

"The way it works is that no one can see the info, without using my chakra." He told us. "For example, like this." He held his left arm with his right, and a puff of smoke came from the card, while the card itself, which had been blank seconds ago, now had a picture on it.

"Whoa! Awesome, what information is this?" Sakura asked, peering at the card.

"It shows the number of genin participating, and the number that are coming from each nation." He explained. I got tired of listening to him, so I tuned him out. I focused the chakra into my eyes (**1**), and carefully examined the different genin in the room. They would not be easy opponents. Three of them caught my attention; they were all glaring at Kabuto. Had he said something they didn't like? I hadn't been paying attention, so I didn't know for sure. They wore Sound head bands, and seemed to be the only ones from their village.

All of a sudden, Naruto spun around ad started shouting at everyone in the room. I didn't take my eyes off the sound genin though. They looked nearly hostile.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I won't lose to any of you! Got it?" I focused chakra to my ears now; it looked like they were talking. I cocked my head a bit, and faced my right ear towards them.

"Did you hear that?" The one with the spiky thing on his back said quietly. "Sound village is a minor hidden village of a small nation. That's offensive." He quoted.

"Maybe I'll… play with them a bit." The girl said softly. My eyes widened and I frowned.

"Yes, being referred to as left over Shinobi and all. We'll add this to his data. That Sound Shinobi are brutal in their own way." The strange one agreed. Suddenly everyone was arguing and Sakura apologized for Naruto, but I kept my eyes and ear on those sound ninja's as my hand crept to my weapons pouch.

"_So you heard it too, huh?_" Jun hooted quietly from my shoulder. I gave a slight nod.

"Let's do it." The strange one ordered. My eyes flashed and I took up the ready position as my eyes followed their movements. They were quick, but I was faster. I ran in front of Kabuto, and deflected the kunai that the other guy on the sound's team threw. I caught the strange boy's arm in my hand and held my kunai at his throat, while Jun dug his talons into the guy's head.

"I was under the impression that the Chuunin exams were a gathering of peace among the nations." I said with a sickly sweet smile. Our faces were very close, but I wasn't scared. I didn't like Kabuto. But there was no need for fighting before it was needed.

He stepped back, and immediately Jun flew onto my shoulder while I put away my kunai. "We're sorry if we offended your village. The sound is a very respectable village, with many fine shinobi. I'm sorry." I told him, and bowed slightly. I was going to kill this Kabuto person.

"You're lucky it's against my policy to attack women." He snarled and walked off with his team. I wheeled around. I was so pissed I really wanted to kill someone.

"You knew they could hear you, didn't you? You're lucky I'm not going to do what he wanted to do right now. Sound attacks are deadly. Don't forget that." I ground out, glaring at him, and then stalked over to Roka and Kaito.

"H-how did you do that?" Ino asked me. I shrugged, and leaned against the wall. I looked at Kaito, he nodded.

I sighed and faced everyone. "My family trains birds. I train owls, so over the years they've taught me how to better my senses. I can concentrate Chakra into my eyes and ears, and my senses become just as good as an owl's. Just like Kiba does with smell. I think he can do it with his eyes and ears, I'm not sure. Owls have a very subdued sense of smell, since they don't use it while hunting." I explained, reaching up and sliding my hand over his feathers.

Kiba nodded. "Makes sense, even coming from a fowl girl." I rolled my eyes, but before I could retort, a ginormous puff of smoke came from the front of the room, and we all looked towards it. A man stood there.

"Silence! Degenerates!" There were also several of what seemed to be chuunin's there, behind him. He had several scars on his face, and he looked very intimidating. "Sorry to keep you waiting. I'm Morino Ibiki, the proctor for the first test of the chuunin exam."

"Now then, we will start the first test of the chuunin exam!" He told us. "Turn in your applications, and get one of these number cards in return." He held up a white card that had a one on it. "And sit in the seat matching that number! After that we will hand out the paper for the written test!" I felt Kaito tense beside me. He wasn't the best with tests. Roka and I would do fine, but Kaito on the other hand…

We turned in our applications, and got numbers. Mine was seventeen. Roka had thirty two, and Kaito had six. I sat at my seat, while Jun flew up and perched on the pipe above me. I could easily see Kaito, but Roka was behind me. Ibiki explained the rules, and I gasped when I heard that if even one team mate fails, we all fail.

"Start!" He yelled at us, and I flipped the paper over. I felt horror rise in me, when I realized that not even I could answer these questions. Well, a few yea, but not all of them. I looked up at Kaito. He had his hands in his hair, and I could tell he was despairing.

I shook my head. I would help him in a minute. I needed to do mine first. So I carefully answered the questions as best as I could, and looked around. I saw a girl farther down my aisle, writing quickly. She must know the answers. I got an idea, as I slowly tapped my pencil against the table. Jun perked up and listened.

I was using Morse code. He knew it, because I taught it to him in case of an emergency and he had to talk to someone that couldn't understand him. I could use it to communicate the answers to Kaito too, well. Jun would have to do that. Morse code had been a necessity to learn at the academy.

Jun gave an almost imperceptible hoot, and flitted over to right over the girl, and flitted back down on my shoulder. He softly hooted the answers, and I wrote them down until all of the boxes were full.

"Go use Morse code with Kaito." I told him quietly. He nodded, and stared at my paper, memorizing it. He flew over and perched on the beam above Kaito and started tapping messages to Kaito with his talons against the wood.

Kaito perked up, and listened, and soon started writing things down. Before long, he was finished, and I chanced a look back at Roka. He was finished too. I let out a sigh of relief as Jun flitted back.

"You there!" A woman stood up and pointed at me. Oh god, she knew I was cheating didn't she? Oh crap.

"Tell your pipsqueak (Jun squawked at this) to stop flying all over. It's a distraction to the other test takers!" I let out the breath I had been holding in, and smiled at her.

"Of course miss. He's just nervous to be around so many people." I gave her the excuse, and she nodded while sitting back down.

I looked at the clock, there was another five minutes before the final question was given. I put my head down, and Jun stood on the desk next to me.

"_That Shikamaru boy is staring at you._" Jun hooted quietly. I picked my head up, confused. Huh? Does he need help? No, that's absurd. He's brilliant. I mean, he's a genius. I turned my head, and saw him. He was staring at me. He flushed, and I raised an eyebrow at him, while smiling. He got that bored look again, and shrugged, leaning back in his seat. I giggled and turned back. He was just bored.

"Yosh!" Ibiki said from the front of the room. "Here is the tenth question! But before that, I'm going to add some rules to the last question." He told us, smirking. I gasped, exactly what other rules could he give us?

"Let me explain. These are the Hopeless Rules!" He announced. I rolled my eyes. He sure did have a flair for dramatics. "First, you have to decide if you want to take the last question. If you choose not to take it, you will have a zero. In other words, you fail! And of course, that goes for the other two in the group! One last rule. If you take it, and answer it incorrectly, then you will have to relinquish your right to take the chuunin exam forever." He finished.

I felt sick. I started to shake, and my eyes got big. I wasn't good with handling anxiety like this. If my father went on missions for too long, I usually had to stay home because I was literally worried sick. I stared at Ibiki, then at Kaito. He looked determined. I looked back at Roka. He looked confident, but a little nervous.

"What kind of ridiculous rule is that?" I heard Kiba shout from beside me. I looked over. He was a few seats down, and was standing up, pointing his finger at Ibiki.

"Besides, there are plenty of people here who have taken the exam many times!" Akamaru yipped in agreement. I couldn't help but smile. Leave it to the mutt to draw attention to himself. When Ibiki began to laugh, my nervousness returned.

"You're just unlucky. I make the rules this year. But I did give you the option to go back!" Kiba looked taken aback, but Ibiki continued. "For those of you who are not confident, you can choose not to take it, and take the exam next year, or the year after that." He started to laugh again.

I couldn't let my team down. We had come so far, trained to the extreme, gone on plenty of missions! I knew I was a good shinobi, but looking down at my paper, I knew I was not particularly smart.

I had had average grades back at the academy, and what if Jun couldn't help me on this one? Would Roka and Kaito forgive me if I got it wrong? Or if I turned back now? What would my dad say? That thought alone gave me courage. I would not fail my father. I stared determinedly at Ibiki, as if to tell him, I refuse to give up just because your words frighten me.

"Let's begin. Those of you who will not be taking it, raise your hands" Many people rose their hands out of fear, but plenty stayed. I could see all the rookies refused to leave, and I smiled when not even Hinata would give up. I gasped as Naruto raised his hand, only to slam it down.

"Don't underestimate me! I won't run! I'll take it! Even if I'm stuck being a genin forever, I will become a Hokage no matter what it takes! I'm not scared!" Naruto screamed, and I rolled my eyes. If an idiot like him can take it, so could I.

"I like your determination! So for those who are still here. The first exam, you have passed it!" He told us, smiling. I gasped, what?

"H-hey! What does that mean? All of a sudden you're telling us we passed. What about the tenth question?" Sakura shouted.

"There wasn't such a thing to start with! Well you can consider that decision just now your tenth question." He told us laughing. I felt angry. Really pissed off.

"Then what were those nine questions for? It was just a waste of time!" A girl way at the back asked. She was a sand ninja.

"Not a waste. The objective of the nine questions was already accomplished. To test your individual ability to gather information!" He told us.

"First, the focus of this test was on the system of determining the pass or failure based on the three-person groups that was proposed in the first rule." He went on and on, but I didn't pay attention. I was just happy I had passed. When Ibiki revealed his head though, I didn't listen to what he was saying. I felt sick again looking at the burn marks, scars, and I could even see nail punctures. What the hell? He's an interrogator! I had to look away, so I stared at my pencil. He then told us all about information gathering, which made sense as to why they made us cheat.

"I wish you well." He finished, and Naruto started screaming happily. I was happy that it was over, and I was ready to move on.

Something crashed into the window a second later though, and I jumped in surprise. A banner was put up and a woman stood in front of it. "You guys! This isn't the time to be celebrating! I'm the proctor for the second exam! Mitarashi Anko! Let's move onto the next stage! Next! Follow me!" She thrust her fist into the air. I was kind of scared from how she had screamed at us.

"Read the atmosphere." Ibiki said quietly, stepping out from behind the banner. They had a quiet discussion, and then she yelled at us to get information about the next exam from our Jounin. Then she dismissed us. I waited at the back for Kaito and Roka.

"Oh I was so anxious!" I told them, still feeling jumpy from the flurry of emotions. They smiled at me, and I pulled Roka in for a hug, and then tackled Kaito. Soon the room was almost empty, but I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned and scowled when I saw Kabuto.

"Forgive me, but I didn't have the chance to thank you for earlier, for your rescuing me." He said, and bowed. I nodded at him when he straightened up.

"There was no need for the fight. But be careful what you say when your around so many enemies next time." He nodded and smiled, and suddenly he held my hand, and bent to kiss it. I was amazed, confused, and pissed at the same time, but I had no idea which to express. I nearly gasped when I felt his lips press against the back of my hand. Did this guy really have a death wish? Unfortunately, I blushed despite myself. He let my hand go, and stepped back.

"I hope to see you around. I never caught your name, would you mind telling me it?" He asked, giving me a charming smile. I flushed, and tucked some hair behind my ear.

"Uh, I'm Tsukiko." I told him. He cocked his head.

"That's an interesting name." He commented. I nodded.

"I was born at night. My mother loved the night time. She trained nocturnal birds as well." I told him. He nodded and smiled again.

"I must be going; my team is waiting for me. Until tomorrow, Tsukiko." He walked off, leaving me very confused. There was something strange about that guy. I hadn't decided if that was bad or not yet.

* * *

><p>I watched her join up with her team, as I waited for mine. I saw her hug her team mates when they got to her, while Ino ranted on and on about whatever. When I saw Kabuto approach her, I wondered what he wanted. He bowed and they talked for a moment, and I was about to turn around when I saw him grab her hand, and bent to kiss it. I was shocked. What the hell was he doing?<p>

I felt angry too, but why? She's my friend, of course I'm going to feel a bit angry and protective when some guy comes and tries to make a move on her. I wasn't very angry though. I figured she would slap him and storm off. That's what Kiko does. But when I saw her blush and tuck a piece of hair behind her ear, the anger increased. They talked for a few minutes, before he walked off. I glanced over at Chouji and Ino, they were arguing about something or another, so I walked over to Tsukiko, where she was about to go back to her team mates, who had migrated to a corner, farther away.

"Yo, Kiko." I called out, putting on the bored look. She turned, and smiled when she saw me. I felt some of my anger diminish.

"Hey Shika! I bet the test was easy for you, wasn't it? How'd you feel about that trick last question?" She asked me, one of her hands twirling a piece of hair around her fingers. She liked to do that, I figured it was some sort of habit. I shrugged as I watched her twirl her hair.

Before she could say something else, I spoke. "So what did that Kabuto guy want just now?" I asked her, trying to sound like I really didn't care, but I got the feeling she knew I actually did. She smiled and shrugged.

"Wanted to say thank you for earlier. I don't know why he kissed my hand. I'm not sure if I want to kill him or go ask him why he did that." She told me, smiling, but she looked confused too.

"Maybe he likes you." I suggested, watching her closely for a reaction. I didn't see one, she just looked thoughtful. She giggled suddenly; I cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Even if he did, he's way too old. He's not that cute either. But his smarts impress me." She admitted, and I felt the anger dissipate at the assurance she didn't like him.

_I'm smart. Is she impressed by me?_ I shook that out of my head. I nodded at her.

"Hey, since Chouji, yours, and my house are in the same direction, you guys wanna go get dinner?" She asked, giving me a hopeful expression. I gave a small smile, and nodded.

"Sounds good." I said simply. She giggled.

"What, no 'How troublesome'?" She asked, trying, yet failing to do an impression of me.

"You did it wrong. I'm much cooler when I say it." I told her, smirking. She shook her head, and smiled at me.

"That's probably true. I'll join you guys outside. Gotta say bye to my team." She told me, and I nodded, a little shocked. Had she just called me cool? I felt a faint blush rise up in my cheeks, as I walked over to Ino and Chouji, who were now yelling at each other.

"Chouji, wanna get dinner with me and Kiko?" I asked him. He turned and nodded happily. Ino pouted.

"Why don't I get to come?" She asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Your house is in the opposite direction." And no one likes your incessant whining. I kept the last part to myself though. She smirked.

"You just want Kiko all to yourself so you can tell her how much you love her. I can see that blush Shikamaru! Don't even try and lie!" She said, pointing at my cheeks. I rolled my eyes and tsked.

"How troublesome. It takes to much effort to 'love' anyone. She and I are friends. That's it." I told her. It was true. We were just friends.

Ino smirked. Me and Chouji left, but we both missed what she said.

"You'll see."

**(1)- In the preliminaries Kurenai says that Kiba focuses his chakra in his nose to smell better, so I did the same for Kiko, except with Owl senses.**

**Alright! Give it up for your awesome writer, who watched the Naruto episodes again and copied practically word for word what each character said! Now if this doesn't earn me reviews then I have absolutely no idea what will! Sorry if it was a tad boring to read through the stuff you already know about, I tried to cut out the non-important stuff.**

**The next chapters will pretty much ignore the character dialogue, it'll just follow the actions.**

**Do not fear! Kabuto doesn't like her. He's just interested in her talent. But Shikamaru doesn't know that. And neither does Kiba. But we all know Kiba is a bit more **_**rash**_**. I wonder what he will do. *Smirks evilly* PLEASE REVIEW! *begs for feedback***


	7. Chuunin Exam, Part 2

**So sorry for not updating faster! I got kinda sick so I didn't feel like writing. I also seem to have developed writers block. It took snickers, half a box of tea, and a lot of music to get me to write this chapter. This also might have some mild crack-ness in it 'cause I need the laughs. And swearing. Lots and lots of swearing. I hope y'all enjoy, HAPPY LATE FOURTH OF JULY EVERYONE! :D**

_Chuunin Exam, Part 2_

Looking up at the giant trees waiting for us behind the black fence, I could feel extreme anxiety smothering me, and I fiddled with the hem of my shirt for something to do. The Forest of Death? You've got to be kidding me.

"What is it with shinobi and all the dramatics?" I whispered quietly to Roka and Kaito. I saw the scary jounin woman glare at me for a moment, but look away to continue explaining the exam to us. It sounded easy enough, but I knew we were in trouble if we ran into certain teams. We would have to pinpoint the weakest.

She went on trying to intimidate us, and quite frankly, it was working. Roka was fairly anxious as well, it was only Kaito who was relaxed and not worried. Suddenly the woman held up papers and I gasped as I realized what they were.

"Consent forms?" I hissed, and stepped partially behind Kaito. The two boys gave me curious looks, and we all stepped forward so we could actually hear her. Not that I had trouble hearing from where we were, but the boys did.

"It's a consent form, before you can take part in the test you have to sign this." The woman told us, patting the stack of papers.

"Shouldn't our parents have to sign as well?" Kaito grumbled, and I silently agreed.

"Why?" Naruto asked in his trademark loud voice. She looked at him.

"From here on out there will be corpses. I have to get your consent to that or it'll be my responsibility." She told us, giving a fake smile. Roka shuddered, and Kaito and I put him between us. Jun hooted comfortingly at him, and he smiled.

"I'm fine guys. Don't worry about it." He told us, running a hand down Jun's back. We nodded, but stayed where we were. It seemed everyone was uncomfortable with this revelation.

"Well, I'm going to start the explanation for the second test. In a word, the limits of your survival will be challenged." She handed the forms to Naruto, who took one and passed it back. I went and grabbed three, and handed them to the boys, who signed it. I read it briefly and signed my name at the bottom. While doing so, I listened to the instructor woman carefully. I couldn't fuck this up.

"Scrolls?" I whispered, staring at the woman as she explained what the scrolls had to do with the exam.

"14 teams get the heaven scroll, while the other half gets the earth scroll. I'll hand over one scroll to each team. To put it simply, this is what you're vying for." Anko said to all of us, holding the two scrolls up.

"And the conditions to pass?" Sasuke asked from my right. I kept listening, but I was starting to get anxious. When would it start?

"Five whole days? Is it really that difficult? None of these genin's look tough enough to really cause that much trouble." Kaito said matter-of-factly. I rolled my eyes.

"They don't have to be tough as long as they have good jutsu's." I told him quietly, before turning back to Anko. Jun hopped off my shoulder on to my extended arm.

"No matter what, do not eat any suspicious bugs, and stay close. Understood?" I whispered quietly. He gave out a soft scree and nipped my fingers affectionately. I giggled.

"I never have to worry about you do I?" I asked him, before turning back. Everyone had been whispering quietly.

"Do not look at the content of the scrolls until you have reached the tower!" She told us loudly. I stepped forward until she could see me.

"What happens if we do look?" I asked loudly. Was it some sort of genjutsu that would be on them? Would we be tortured? No, they wouldn't do that for just looking. We would just be disqualified. Right?

"When you look at it, you'll find out!" She told me happily. I rolled my eyes.

"That's not very helpful…" I muttered, and stepped back to my team. We were then instructed to turn in our forms and get a scroll. We hurried over and got ours relatively quickly. They handed and earth scroll to Roka, and he put it in his pouch. We all nodded at each other and picked out an entrance. I stared up at the gate, anxious for the exam to start. The sooner the better.

"So I think we should-" I slapped a hand over Kaito's mouth.

"Do you _want_ someone to hear you? We'll talk about it once we're inside." The two boys nodded, and we waited. Jun took off and circled overhead, waiting for the chance to fly as fast as possible.

"Oi! Look who it is!" I groaned, and let my head slump forward. I turned and frowned when I saw Kiba, who had that stupid smirk plastered in his face. But when I saw Hinata and Shino with him, I grinned.

"Hinata!" I shouted and pelted towards her. I was going to hug her, but a hand stopped me. I looked up at Shino confusedly.

"I was just gonna give her a hug." I mumbled as I stepped back. Hinata blushed.

"It's okay Shino-kun, she's my friend." Hinata whispered. Shino shook his head.

"We can't trust anyone right now." He said in that deep voice of his. I fiddled with the hem of my shirt embarrassedly. Shino had always frightened me back at the academy. He never talked, and hadn't had friends. The thing that freaked me out though was the fact that he didn't seem to mind that.

"Right. Its okay Hinata, I'll see you after the exam. Do your best, 'kay?" She nodded and smiled at me.

"You too." She said in her soft voice, and I nodded.

"Aww how touching. Bird-brains can actually smile." I frowned and rolled my eyes.

"Wow, you actually came up with a better insult than fowl girl and fatso? I'm shocked." I said, feigning surprise. He scowled.

"It's better than you only having mutt as an insult." He retorted.

"You forgot that you're a hobo too." I reminded, smirking. He pushed his hood off his head, revealing his messy brown hair.

"I'm not a hobo!" He snarled. I giggled.

"You sure as hell look like one." I pointed out. He clenched a fist.

"It's better than being fat!" I clenched a fist too, and stepped closer to him.

"Say it again, I dare you!" I challenged, and he opened his mouth to say it, but Hinata stepped up.

"Please don't fight." She whispered, and we both looked at her. I nodded, and went back over to my team.

Kiba rolled his eyes, and walked off. "Whatever." Hinata gave a small wave, and followed with Shino beside her.

Roka and Kaito grinned at me. I heaved a giant sigh, and gave them a pointed look.

"What?" I asked, as they chuckled.

"It's hilarious to watch you two argue. You sound like an old married couple." Roka told me, patting my shoulder. I fumed.

"That would never, ever happen! I hate him. He's a good for nothing mutt." I huffed, and turned back to the gate with my arms crossed.

A Chuunin walked over to us and leaned against the gate. I frowned at him.

"Who are you?" I asked, with my hands on my hips. He rolled his eyes.

"I'm the one who's gonna let you in. You have thirty minutes until the gate opens." We nodded at him, and I sat down. I pulled my backpack off my back and started to inventory. Everything was nice and organized, and I had everything I would need. The boys did the same, and we sat until it was time.

"Alright you three, get up. It's time." Kaito and I shot up at this, but Roka took his sweet time standing up. The shinobi undid the chains that were wrapped around the gate, and let them fall to the ground. I glanced up, and saw Jun perched on the top of the gate, waiting for my signal to go. The guy stared at his watch, and his eyes would flick over in Anko's direction every so often.

"We now start the second test of the Chuunin Exam!" Anko yelled, and the gates flew open. We were through before the gate was completely open.

We ran, and I was in the lead with Jun swooping in and out of the tree tops above us. We didn't stop for a while, until we figured we were deep enough in. We then stopped on branches that were together.

"What's the plan?" I asked Roka. He was the designated strategist. I was the one who had the speed, and Kaito had strength in the form of ninjutsu. He sighed, and sat down. We followed his lead, and kept quiet so he could think.

When he finally opened his eyes, I smiled at him. "We split up." He said. I gasped, and shot up.

"No way! That's dangerous, how are we supposed to help each other if one of us gets hurt? Or if we get stuck and can't get to each other quickly enough? Or if we're confronted by another team when we're by ourselves? Not a chance." I said decisively, ending my little fit.

"No, I mean you and Jun are together, and Kai and I will be together. Jun can always come get us if there's something wrong." Roka told me, standing up as well. Kaito just leaned back and munched on an apple. Apparently he's indifferent about the whole thing.

"How will you know if it's really Jun?" I asked, crossing my arms. He thought for a moment.

"Have him bring one of your ribbons." He told me, and it was my turn to think. I carry around ribbons for my hair so I can keep it out of my eyes. I nodded.

"So what are we doing? Setting up traps?" He nodded, and explained his plan, while Kaito and I paid rapt attention.

* * *

><p>I finished setting up the last wire, and swept my hair out of my eyes as I sat back to admire my handiwork. I stepped carefully until I was in the middle of my clever little trap. I signaled Jun, who started screeching up a storm. I pretended to panic.<p>

"Shh! No! It's okay! Please stop, birdie no! Oh god, what do I do?" I hissed at the bird.

"Does the little birdie want some food?" I asked the little owl, but when I stepped closer he got even louder, if that was even possible.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here boys?" I heard a deep, dark voice ask. I whipped around, and stared nervously at the three boys. They were slightly older than I was, and they were from Konoha too. I backed up, and pulled a kunai.

"S-stay there! Or, I-I'll hurt you!" I shouted, brandishing the kunai wildly. The boy in front, he seemed to be the leader, smirked at me.

"With what? You're all alone. And your pathetic trap didn't work." I could feel the blood drain from my face. They had found it already? What the hell was I supposed to do? I started to panic.

"Please don't hurt me! I'll give you our scroll, just leave me alone!" I begged, backing up against a tree as they came closer, and formed a semi-circle around me.

"But you're just so pretty. And we already have the scroll we need. I think we'll keep you around for a bit." The leader stepped up and pushed some of my hair behind my ear. I flinched, and they all started laughing evilly.

I let the kunai I was holding fall to the ground, and suddenly there was a _whoosh_ from above, and they all looked up to see Jun had flown over to the other side of the clearing. I used their distraction to my advantage, and reached my hand into my pouch, and slammed a smoke ball into the ground. We were engulfed in smoke, and I dove into the bushes.

"Damnit! Where's that little brat at?" I heard one shout. I smirked, and threw a shuriken at the top of a tree to my right, cutting a thin wire. Suddenly, three branches swung out of nowhere, and crashed into the three boys. Groans erupted from the cloud of smoke, and I proceeded to cut another wire next to me, and about a dozen kunai flew out from the shadows and found their mark.

When the smoke cleared, the three boys were on the ground panting, with several kunai lodged in each. One boy struggled up, but before he was on his feet, I cast my signature jutsu.

"Daga no hane jutsu!" I screamed, and pointed my hand at Jun. His feathers then all fell out, but were replaced just as quickly. The feathers that had fallen out turned sharp and hard, and were practically little knives. They plummeted towards the boys, and they tried to scramble away. But luck was not on their side. Blood flew as the feathers impaled themselves in the boys.

I smirked as I walked over to the leader. He stared up at me in complete surprise and somewhat horror. I leaned down until we were almost face to face. "Don't ever, _ever _assume I'm weaker than you." I told him, and punched his face. I dug through all of their bags, until I found the scrolls hiding in the bulkiest guy's bag. Yup, there were two of them. I decided to take the second one anyway, just in case. I also got my weapons back, and stole a few of theirs.

"C'mon Jun. Let's get back to the boys. Lead the way please." I called out to him. He hooted and took off. I followed with a big grin on my face.

* * *

><p>I smirked at my teammates as I held up the two scrolls I had gotten. They stared at me with their jaws on the floor.<p>

"How did you manage that?" Kaito asked incredulously.

I shrugged. "I tricked some stupid idiots." Was all I said, as Roka made dinner.

It was just some dried meat, an apple each, and water, but it was filling. "Did you guys have any luck?" I asked as I bit into my apple. They shook their heads.

"Kai got stuck in quicksand though. It took me ten minutes to realize he wasn't with me anymore." Roka told me, as Kaito scowled.

"How could you not hear me screaming?" Kaito asked as Roka chuckled and chewed a piece of meat.

"I thought it was some animal mating call." He admitted, and we all stared at each other before erupting into laughter. I yawned as we settled down.

"Should we run ahead to the tower? Other teams could be setting up traps there. We don't want to get stuck if we wait too long." I told them. They sighed and sat up.

"We can't see where we're going." Roka reminded me. "You can, and so can Jun, but we don't have your sight." I pulled out some wire, and crawled over to Roka. I tied it around his belt, connecting it to mine, and from his I tied wire to Kaito's belt. They looked up at me and nodded, understanding.

"Just make sure to keep up." I smirked at them, and they rolled their eyes. We cleaned up camp, and took off at a slow pace. I didn't want to trip them up.

"You know, I thought you would've called all the carnivorous birds out of hiding and used them, instead of setting up an actual trap." Kaito called out from the back. I rolled my eyes.

"Not all birds listen dummy. The only thing they think about is their next food source. They feel no sense of loyalty to me. They would just eat me if I asked them to help. If there was something I could give them in return, they would probably help. But we're best off with just Jun." I told them.

We were quiet for the rest of the journey, and we finally reached the tower at about one in the morning, although I did get caught in a spider web, and had nearly woken up the entire forest. We entered a room, and looked around. There was no one there.

"What's this?" I asked as I saw some sort of tapestry hanging down.

"It seems like it has something to do with the scroll, but we should wait to open it until it's time." Roka told me as he studied it too. I nodded and yawned. We cut the wire that connected us, and sat on the floor. Jun hopped into my lap and snuggled into my arms, before falling asleep. I smiled and stroked his feathers, and looked over at the boys. I barely contained a giggle when I saw they were already asleep, lying on the floor next to each other.

I gently laid down, and felt my eyelids grow heavy as I sighed, and fell asleep, cuddling the little brown bird in my arms.

**Thank you all for the reviews! I know it's not that long, but soon we'll be over the exam, and we can get back to the actual story! Yet again, action scenes aren't my forte, so I'm sorry if it's pathetic.**

**I hope I didn't confuse anyone, 'cause I took this down and redid it.**

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**Reviews make me happy, and let me know if you like the story!**

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** WW (supposed to be an owl ^.^)**

**-Ash**


	8. Chuunin Exam, Preliminaries

**Yosh! Two in one day! I'm on a ROLL! **

**Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto, or else Kakashi and Iruka would've been together. I own my characters and the plot, nothing else (unfortunately). :D ENJOY!**

_Chuunin Exam, Preliminaries_

For the next four days, we didn't really do anything. Sometimes I would send Jun out to tell us if anyone had arrived yet_. _It was difficult to sit still at times, but Kaito always had a deck of cards on him, so it wasn't so bad, until Kaito himself decided he wanted to practice running up the wall. Roka and I had already completed the training, but Kai was having trouble.

"Get down from there! You'll hurt yourself!" I yelled up at Kaito, who was smirking. But right when he stopped running, he slipped and fell. Guess what, or rather who, he landed on? You are correct!

"Get off of me!" I groaned. I scrambled away when I realized my head had been in his arm pit.

"Gross! You smell like dead pigeon!" I whined, as I scrubbed at my face with the back of my hand. He grimaced.

"And you smell like fruit that's way too ripe." He retorted. Roka rolled his eyes and played solitaire while Kaito and I wrestled.

We had read the little tapestry over and over, but each time we decided the missing piece would have to be in the scrolls. When we flew apart from each other, I stared at the poster.

_If Heaven does not exist, enrich your knowledge, and prepare for the chance. If Earth does not exist, run the fields in search of an advantage. Open the series of Heaven and Earth, and the perilous way shall be redressed. This is namely the secret of the "one that guides"._

I shook my head. One more day. As I stood up, I turned to Roka. "I think it's safe to open the scrolls now that we're inside the tower. We should give it a try." I said, and he looked up from the cards. He shrugged.

"I guess." I tossed him the Earth scroll, and I held the Heaven one, while Kaito leaned against the wall and watched.

"On the count of three. One." I grasped the start of the scroll and took a deep breath.

"Two." Kaito threw in. I smiled, and glanced at Roka. He looked terrified.

"Three!" Roka yelled, and we tore open the scrolls, only to be engulfed in smoke. I coughed, and dropped the scroll. I leaped back, not knowing if we were gonna get hurt.

"Yo." Standing on top of the scrolls was a woman with long black hair and matching eyes.

She proceeded to explain everything to us, and told us we could go wait with the other teams if we wanted to.

"You mean we could've been talking to people all this time, and yet we've been stuck here?" Kaito hissed. The woman shrugged.

"Anko never specified that we could open it once we got to the tower…" I grumbled, as the woman led us to the large arena room, which had two giant hands at the back. I saw a decent number of teams had survived; even Hinata's team. I was happy for her, but not about Kiba.

Everyone was just lounging about, and they all seemed bored. Their eyes flickered to us for a moment, before they went back to what they were doing. Several teams looked really roughed up, while others (like ours) barely had a scratch. I headed straight for Hinata.

"Hey! You did it!" I exclaimed as I sat next to her. She looked surprised.

"Oh! Kiko-chan, I was worried!" She told me softly. I grinned at her.

"We decided to not open the scrolls when we got here. We thought we had to wait until the last day. But Kai and I got so bored we had to open them." I admitted.

"When did you get here?" She asked.

"Just after midnight the first day." I told her.

"Haha! We beat you here then!" Kiba exclaimed, pointing a finger at me. I rolled my eyes and slapped it away.

"Yeah, but who was good enough to get an extra scroll? Not you." I retorted. He scowled. I heard a soft scree to my right, and looked over. What I saw baffled me to no end.

Akamaru was chasing after Jun. The little owl was flying just over the dog's head. Akamaru would yip and jump, as if to bite Jun, but the little bird would go up a bit higher to taunt the white dog. I giggled.

"Are they, playing?" I asked, glancing at Kiba. He looked stunned.

"I think so." He muttered, and stared at his dog. I giggled when Jun swooped down, and gently pulled at a tuft of Akamaru's fur. I sat down, and Kiba followed suit.

I glanced around, wondering where Roka and Kaito were, and saw Hinata and Roka chatting, while Kaito was trying to convince Shino to play cards with him. I looked around, and grinned when I saw Chouji and his team. Forgetting who exactly I was sitting next to, I turned to Kiba.

"Could you watch Jun for a minute?" I asked. He looked at me incredulously.

I sighed. "Please?" I winced. Never had it been so hard to be nice. He rolled his eyes and shrugged, and I grinned as I pelted towards Chouji. I attacked him with a hug, and could tell he was surprised.

"I'm so glad you guys made it!" I exclaimed, and pulled away. Chouji smiled at me.

"Glad you made it too!" He said, and pulled out some chips to celebrate. I was so excited, I even hugged Shikamaru. He patted my back awkwardly and muttered something about hugging being so troublesome. I pulled away and gave Ino a smile.

"I'm happy you made it too, Ino-san." I told her, and she looked surprised. She nodded with a smile of her own though.

We spent the rest of the day talking, playing cards, and watching the two little animals create games of their own to play. Finally, the worn out little guys crawled into our laps for a good nap. I stroked Jun's feathers as his chest rose and fell slowly, showing he was asleep.

Kai offered me some chips, but I shook my head, and started peeling an orange instead. Ino grinned at me.

"Kiko! Have you finally decided to go on a diet? I know some great ones I could tell you about!" She exclaimed, and proceeded to list what sounded like torture tactics. I squirmed uncomfortably, and glanced down. I wasn't that fat, was I?

Sure I'm not the skinniest, nor the biggest, but I guess I could bear to lose a few pounds. My hips were a bit big, and I wouldn't mind losing some baby fat from my cheeks. I hope it wouldn't make my chest get smaller. I was quite proud of that area.

I exercised and trained just as much as my teammates, if not more. I never ate more than what I needed, but I never seemed to lose much weight. Perhaps I would try dieting when I got home. But would that mean no more barbeque? Oh god, I don't think I could live in a world without barbeque.

"Oh! And there's this one where all you eat are two apple slices a day. That one works wonders, but you're more prone to passing out. I would say the cheese one would work best for you, but-" Ino was suddenly cut off.

"I think she looks just fine." Kiba said, staring at the ceiling. I looked at him, wide eyed. What the hell? Everyone stared at him, shocked. He looked down, and saw us all staring at him. He fidgeted, and adjusted the sleeping pup in his lap.

"What?" He asked, annoyed.

"That, coming from the one who has picked on me since we started at the academy?" I asked pointedly. He shrugged.

"People change. You've lost your baby fat. We all have. So there's no need to call you fatso anymore." He admitted.

"Then why do you still do it?" I asked blandly. He rolled his eyes.

"'Cause it bugs you." He laughed at my expression.

We all became silent, and one by one, we drifted off to sleep. I giggled as Roka's head fell onto my shoulder. Kai used Roka's legs as a pillow, and I laid my head on top of Roka's. Fortunately, sleep came easily, and before I knew it, I was being shaken awake.

"Wha-?" I mumbled sleepily. I rubbed my eyes and looked up with a yawn to see Kai crouching next to me.

"Get up, they're addressing everyone." He told me, and I stood up, and glanced around. The teams were filing into formation, and the only other team that had joined since last night was Naruto's. I shuffled over to stand next to Roka, with Kaito on the other side of him.

"First off, congratulations on finishing the second test." The Hokage congratulated. I tuned the rest out, suddenly feeling very sleepy. Suddenly, I caught sight of Hiroshi, and grinned. He smiled back, and he looked very proud.

Hayate explained everything, and we met up with Hiroshi at the top. "I'm so proud of you three!" He swept us up in a bone crushing hug, and when he let us go, we all gasped for breath.

"It's good to see you too sensei." I wheezed happily. I then turned to the boys and stared at them.

"Don't hold back." I ordered. They looked at me, surprised. Roka smiled.

"You too." We nodded, and turned to watch as the electric panel started turning up names. It was Sasuke first. We all sat down against the wall and had a snack while we watched, and Hiroshi chatted on and on. No surprise, Sasuke won.

The second match was Shino's, which he won. I couldn't help but shudder, his bugs really freak me out sometimes. The next match was between a sand nin and some other ninja, the sand nin won. The next match was Sakura and Ino. I gasped as Ino cut her hair off, and ran a hand through my own hair.

"Am I the only girl with long hair left?" I asked the guys, wide eyed. They chuckled.

"Don't worry, long hair looks better on you." Hiroshi told me, ruffling said hair. I pouted at him, and flattened my hair.

When the sixth rolled up, I paid close attention. It was Shikamaru's after all. He had to walk past me to get to the stairs, so I gave him a smile.

"Good luck." I told him, and he rolled his eyes, and muttered his customary 'How troublesome.' But I leaned against the rail and watched. It didn't surprise me when he won.

I stared at the panel, and felt anxiety clawing at my stomach. Then, the names stopped flickering and finally settled on two.

Kimura Tsukiko and Kouda Dai, was what the panel read. I felt the blood drain out of my face, but I took a deep breath and cleared my head.

"Good luck." My team whispered to me, and I smirked.

"I don't need luck." I lied, and walked towards the stairs. I could feel all of my comrades eyes on me, but I didn't look at them. I could do this, I kept telling myself, but my body betrayed me, and made me shake. I reached back and grabbed a ribbon out of my pouch, and put my hair up. I stood across the floor from my opponent.

He was very big. Easily three times bigger than me. He was probably very strong. But I could use my speed against him. How would I bring him down? I could trick him, or maybe I should just test him first. I nodded mentally, and turned back to the judge.

"Begin." Was all he said. I snatched two kunai out of my pouch, and threw them as hard as I could. He deflected easily. I ran two complete circles around him, and then signaled Jun. He screeched and I flung down a smoke ball, and we were engulfed in seconds. I threw several shuriken into the cloud, and he gasped when two hit him. I dove in, and quickly punched and kicked him while running around trying to confuse him. I then delivered a very strong punch to his chest, but he just skidded back.

Before he started his skid though, he latched onto my arm, and slammed me into the ground. I gasped, and my vision went blurry for a moment, but when it cleared I saw the guy trying to stab me with a kunai. I rolled to the side and dodged. I scrambled away so I was a few feet from him.

He frowned at me, and started forming hand signs. He crouched down, and raised two fingers to his lips, and blew hard. I yelped when fire came out, and I barely escaped. I kept running, but he followed me with his fire. I screamed as it caught my left arm, but I got away.

The fire died down, and I groaned as I clutched my left shoulder. He had burnt it badly, and I chanced a look. It was red and the skin had torn open, and it was bleeding. I snarled at him, and formed hand signals of my own before thrusting my arm up towards Jun. Before he could see the jutsu, and while he was distracted, I threw down a smoke ball. He couldn't even see the hardened feathers flying at him, and I heard him groan as I dove into the smoke, and kicked his chest as hard as I could.

Before I could do anything else though, he had grabbed my ponytail. He turned in a semi-circle, and threw me at the wall.

I screamed as I collided with the wall, and I heard a crack. Explosions of pain shot from my left wrist to my already burnt shoulder. I staggered up, and wiped my mouth before scowling at him. I ran so fast I was a blur, and I tied wires here and there, everywhere, while I also had signaled Jun to distract him. When it was all set up, I smirked, and skidded to a stop in front of the giant hands.

"I'm over here dumbass!" I screamed, and he snarled at me. I smiled when I saw Jun had given the guy a huge cut on his cheek. He tried to barrel straight at me, but his foot caught on a wire and he slammed into the ground. The wire was wrapped around his foot, and now that it had been pulled, eight kunai were flung at him, and he yelped when they stabbed him. I ran over and kicked him, but he grabbed my foot.

"Not again." I muttered, as he flung me at the statue of the hands. My back made contact with them, and I could taste an almost metallic gooiness on my tongue. Blood. As I slid to the ground (more like flopped), I could hear the blood roaring in my ears, and my vision was filled with spots, but only for a minute. I rolled over, and coughed up blood onto the ground. I got up, and wobbled for a second, before grabbing a kunai. He ran at me with his own knife, and the metal clanged together as we fought. At some point, I felt the ribbon slip out of my hair, and onto the floor. My hair whipped out behind me, and I snarled as I tried to stab his hand. He tried to slice at my face, but I twirled away, and ran straight back at him.

I landed a stab to his shoulder, but he sliced my side in return. I couldn't tell who was bleeding more. He decided to grab my other shoulder, and toss me over him, so I crashed in the ground. My ankle felt like it was on fire now, and I got up and hobbled away.

As we skidded apart, I panted. I couldn't keep this up for much longer. Should I chance another try at the jutsu? No, he would know what I was doing. I only had two smoke bombs left. My brain was muddled with pain, so I couldn't really think straight.

In my split second hesitation, he flashed through more hand signs. I tried to run, but more fire chased after me, and with my hurt ankle, I couldn't get very far. The fire caught my entire left side, and I let out a whimper as I collapsed on the ground. I dropped the kunai I had been holding, and curled up in a ball. I felt tears pour out of my eyes, but I swiped them away, and staggered up. He was smirking at me.

I snatched the kunai I had dropped, and threw it at him. He dodged, and ran straight at me. I grabbed a few shuriken, and tossed them, but he dodged. He slammed straight into me, and I grabbed his shoulder. I pulled out my kunai, and shoved it through his stomach, before I flew back into the wall, and promptly passed out.

* * *

><p>I watched wide eyed, as she battled the ginormous guy in front of her. I tried to lean back against the wall as if I didn't care, but I somehow had gravitated to the railing to watch. It was amazing how she kept getting thrown into the wall or the ground, but she got up again. I thought she would've given up by now, but she kept fighting. When they started flying at each other with kunai, I watched as her hair fell out of its ribbon, and would whip around behind her. She looked fierce and determined, and that made her look rather, dare I say it, cute.<p>

But when she got burned again, I winced as she curled up in a ball in pain. She completely shocked me when she got up again, and threw her kunai at him. Unfortunately he barreled straight into her, and knocked her back into the wall. She lay on the floor, unconscious. I sighed. What a shame. Wait a second, she stabbed the guy in the middle. The guy fell over, unconscious as blood spurted out.

"Tie. No one wins." The judge declared. The medics rushed out and lifted them both away, while the board flashed more names. I smirked as I saw my own, and Naruto's. This would be easy. Akamaru yipped from my hoodie, and I patted his head and walked down.

Before the battle started though, I saw a dark blue ribbon sitting on the ground. I frowned and picked it up. I'll give it to her team so they can give it back. I decided, pocketing the silky strip of fabric.

**I bet you didn't see that one coming now did ya?**

**Review and vote please!**

**-Ash**


	9. Huh?

_Huh?_

A groan poured from my throat as I felt a horrible stinging in my side. I felt sore and bruised everywhere, but I still managed to open my eyes. I blinked, blinded by the sudden brightness.

"Oh, you're awake." A small voice gasped. I looked over and saw a small woman standing next to my bed. I was confused. She smiled at me, apparently sensing my confusion.

"Don't worry. You're in the hospital." Don't worry? I think I should be worrying if I'm in the hospital.

"You're father just left to get some things from your home. He'll be back soon." She informed me, but before she could walk off, I stopped her.

"Wait. How long have I been here?" I asked. She smiled as she turned around.

"You came in two days ago. Would you like to know all of your injuries?" She asked, and I nodded, but stopped when my head felt it was going to split in two.

"You have a broken wrist, a sprained ankle, severe burns on the left side of your torso and shoulder, a concussion and a deep cut on your right side. Your ankle and wrist were healed, but you'll have to have a splint on both for a few more days. Your burns are healed, but you need to sit still and keep the bandages on so the regrown skin doesn't get infected or torn. The cut is healed but you still have a scar. That's about it. I have to go now, bye." She promptly turned and went out the door.

I blinked at all of this new information. "I really got banged up, didn't I?" I said aloud to myself.

"That is the understatement of the century." Someone chuckled from the door. I looked over and grinned at my dad.

"Dad!" He smiled and walked over, placing a bag on the floor next to my bed.

"Hey munchkin." I pouted.

"I'm not a munchkin." He ruffled my hair and I winced. He snapped his hand back and looked guilty.

"Sorry." He mumbled. I patted his shoulder.

"No worries. So, I'm assuming I lost the match?" I asked, and my smile disappeared. He hesitated, but smiled.

"You actually tied. The guy fell over unconscious right after you, so no one won. But you'll be happy to know Roka won." He told me. I grinned.

"That's awesome! I knew he could do it! What about Kai?" I asked happily. My dad's face grew somber and quiet. "Dad?" I asked with a frown. He sighed and rubbed his face with a hand.

"Kai's opponent was a master with swords sweetie. Kai almost- well he nearly died from the multiple stab wounds." I gasped in horror.

"Oh my god." I whispered. We were silent for a few minutes.

"Your friends have been visiting you. They left you all that stuff." He said out of nowhere, pointing at the cards and few flowers on the table next to me. I smiled as I saw a bag of chips that had been half eaten. I yawned and looked back over at my dad.

"What time is it?" I asked sleepily. How could I be tired? I had just woken up from a two day long sleep. He smiled and patted my hand.

"Time for both of us to get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning." I nodded as he walked out.

* * *

><p>Over the course of next few days, I felt more and more depressed about my loss. Naruto had won, and I couldn't? How stupid am I? Whenever my friends tried to visit, I pretended to be asleep so I didn't have to talk to them. I desperately wanted to visit Kaito, but they wouldn't let me leave my room.<p>

A few days after I had woken up, I was sitting in my bed, reading one of my favorite books, when I heard footsteps outside. I hurriedly put the book on my bedside stand, and laid down, pretending to be asleep.

The door slid open, and I heard two pairs of footsteps enter my room. There was a huge sigh, and the chairs next to my bed squeaked when they were sat in.

"How troublesome. She's still asleep." A voice I automatically recognized said.

"We can still sit for a while. She might wake up." I heard the wrinkle of foil as Chouji grabbed the bag of chips he left me.

"Since she's not eating them, we can't let them go to waste." Was Chouji's reasoning as he gobbled the chips up. I twitched in annoyance. I had been planning on eating those later!

They chatted about random things for a bit, before deciding to leave.

"C'mon Shika, we can go get some ramen." Chouji said excitedly.

"You go ahead. I'll be there in a minute." Shikamaru replied. I heard the door slide open, and closed again as Chouji left.

"You can stop faking now." I felt the blood rush to my cheeks as I peeked and saw Shikamaru staring at me. I sighed and sat up, avoiding his gaze.

"How troublesome." Was all he said as he rolled his eyes. "Why are you pretending to sleep every time we visit?" He asked, leaning back in his chair. I shrugged.

"I was embarrassed because it felt like everyone passed but me." I mumbled.

"You did a great job. It's not your fault the guy was so much bigger than you, and capable to take more hits." He told me. I stared at him, and cocked my head to the side.

"You think I did good?" I asked, confused. He shrugged.

"You did more than I did." He admitted. I laughed.

"That's because you're smarter than I am. You don't have to deliver a ton of blows. It only takes, like one for you." I giggled at him. He rolled his eyes again. "You should probably go catch up with Chouji." I reminded him, and he looked up.

"Hm? Oh yeah. Ja ne." He told me, before sauntering out of the room. I rolled my eyes and smiled. I picked up my book and started reading again, wondering when my dad would get back.

* * *

><p>The next time I got a visitor was the next day, when Hiroshi and Roka dropped by after lunch. They both looked tired.<p>

"Training for the final exam?" I asked, and they nodded and practically collapsed into the chairs beside my bed. I giggled.

"I'm so proud of you Roka!" I exclaimed, but I couldn't hug him. He grinned at me.

"So, how's Kai?" I asked in a small voice. They both gave me looks that made me flinch.

"He's still in the ICU, but he's more stable now. He hasn't woken up yet though." Hiroshi sighed. He looked like he hadn't been sleeping. He probably felt like he had caused it because he entered us in.

"He'll be fine sensei. You know how stubborn that fool is." I tried to cheer him up, but he just nodded and stood.

"Speaking of stubbornness, let's go train some more!" And he dragged Roka out. My poor teammate gave me an SOS look. I giggled at him, and waved.

* * *

><p>The day after that, I was allowed to go home, on a crutch though. I glared down at my bandage wrapped ankle, resenting it for making me look so stupid. My dad was on a mission, so Roka was walking me home from the hospital.<p>

"Oi! Wait up!" I heard someone shout behind us, and I sighed as I stopped, and turned. Kiba stopped in front of me, panting. I was surprised to see he was out of his hoodie, and had on a regular black shirt.

He straightened up, and held something out to me. I was very confused, but held out my good hand, and he dropped a ribbon into it. I stared at it.

"How did you…?" I asked, and he scratched his head in embarrassment.

"You left it on the arena floor. My match was after yours, so I picked it up." I nodded.

"Thank you." I said sincerely. He winced.

"Sorry it's got a few blood stains on it. I'm not sure if the blood's yours or mine." He said, before shaking his head.

"Whatever. Bye." He said, and walked off with his hands in his pockets. I gave Roka a look, and shrugged as we kept walking home.

I had set the ribbon down on my bedside table, and said hello to Jun for the first time in a week. But I couldn't help picking the ribbon up again, and staring at it.

"Why would he bother to return a stupid ribbon? I have at least twenty more." I muttered to myself as I petted Jun.

"_Maybe he likes you._" Jun suggested. I stared down at him before I started laughing. I doubled over, and a few tears leaked out I was laughing so hard.

"Kiba? Like me? Oh that's rich!" I giggled, and wiped the tears away. He hooted in annoyance.

"_I was just trying to help. That dog of his is fun._" I giggled and patted him.

"Oh I see, you just want a playmate." I grinned. He screeched in agreement. I shrugged.

"We'll see." Of course I wasn't really going to go up to Kiba and say, "Hey, my owl wants to play with your dog. Is that alright?" No, he would laugh and walk off.

Unfortunately though, Jun wouldn't stop nagging. So when I was finally allowed to take the bandages off my foot, and didn't have to walk with a crutch, I got directions to the annoying boy's house. I raised a fist, and sighed as I knocked. Jun was twitching excitedly. The door opened, and a woman answered. I flushed.

"Hello, is Kiba there?" I asked, fiddling with the edge of my shirt. She smiled, and beckoned me inside.

"Hai! Come in, please." I entered and she closed the door behind me, before turning.

"Kiba! There's a girl here for you!" She shouted.

"Who is it?" I heard him yell back. She turned to me.

"I'm Tsukiko." I answered her unsaid question. She nodded.

"A pretty girl named Tsukiko!" She yelled. There was a loud 'thump' from somewhere to my left and I giggled. He appeared a few seconds later, and gave me a confused look.

"Why're you here?" He asked snottily. The woman smacked him and he clutched his head.

"Don't talk to pretty girls like that! You'll never get a girlfriend if you keep that up!" She said, and placed her hands on her hips. I blushed, and he looked up rubbing his head.

"Um, Jun really wanted to see Akamaru. He won't stop bugging me." I confessed, and Jun hopped down onto my wrist. The woman seemed to not have seen him before, so she smiled and petted him.

"What a cutie!" She giggled. Kiba sighed and whistled. Akamaru bounded into sight and yipped when he saw Jun. Kiba shoved on his shoes, and grabbed my arm while dragging me out side. I flinched as my ankle gave a jolt of pain, but I followed anyway. Jun and Akamaru played and raced while Kiba and I walked and watched.

It was quiet, and I could tell we were both uncomfortable. "Akamaru kept bugging me too. He likes that bird of yours." He said all of a sudden, and I smiled.

"Your dog isn't so bad either." I replied.

"How's your ankle?" He asked, looking down at it. I looked at it too, and shrugged.

"It hurts a bit, but I'm fine." I told him. He nodded. "You didn't have to return the ribbon. I have plenty more like it." I finally said. He cocked an eyebrow at me, and shrugged.

"Fine, see if I ever do anything nice for you again." He said, turning his nose up. I rolled my eyes.

"I didn't mean it like that. I'm grateful, but why do it if you don't like me?" I asked. He shrugged.

"For a minute I had a heart and decided to be nice." He joked, and I laughed. He gave me a curious look.

"Aren't we supposed to be fighting?" He asked, and stopped walking. I was silently grateful, my ankle was killing me. So I put all my weight on my right foot, and shrugged.

"We don't have to fight." I suggested. He watched the two little animals playing and teasing each other.

"Then what do we do?" He asked, confused. I laughed at his expression, and stuck out a hand.

"Truce?" He shrugged and grabbed my hand with his own, and shook it firmly.

"Truce." He agreed, and we kept walking until it was about lunch time.

"I'm starving." He whined. I laughed at him.

"Well then go get something to eat!" I giggled. He rolled his eyes and dragged me to Ichiraku's. He ordered a big bowl of ramen, and pork for Akamaru. I ordered a fish roll for Jun.

"Aren't you gonna get anything?" He asked, as he broke some chopsticks. I flushed.

"Nah, I'm taking Ino's advice. It's about time I got skinny." I admitted, swiveling in the seat a little. He rolled his eyes.

"Ino is wrong. Guys don't always go for skinny girls." He told me, and then proceeded to slurp some noodles.

"Who said I was doing it for a guy?" I retorted, and then flushed. "Sorry." I said, and looked at my lap. He shrugged.

"I thought all girls our age were obsessed with guys." He explained. I shrugged.

"Haven't met a guy worth obsessing over yet." I joked, and he chuckled.

"What about Shika? You two would go well together." I glared.

"We're just friends! And Shika is, well Shika is Shika." I said decisively. He slurped the broth, then slammed the bowl down. "Geez, do you have to be so rough?" I asked with a smile. He made a face.

"Geez, do you have to be so annoying?" He mimicked. I laughed and punched his shoulder lightly. We paid, and headed back. I waved goodbye, and turned down my street.

"Who would've thought we could be able to stop fighting?" I laughed as I opened the front door.

**AWW. They stopped fighting! Now how 'bout them votes?**

**VOTE AND REVIEW!**

**-Ash**


	10. Red faces and a limp across town

**Hey everybody! Let's get those votes in, m'kay?**

**Disclaimer- I don't, nor will I ever, own Naruto.**

_Red faces and a limp across town_

Over the next few weeks, my time was spent doing three things. Visiting Kaito, Helping Roka train, and planning play dates for Akamaru and Jun. Right now, I'm doing none of those things. Confusing? Oh well.

See, right now I am trying to find Kiba and his little dog, so we can have another one of those wonderful play dates. Note the sarcasm.

Usually they ended up in a fight between me and Kiba, while our little friends sat a few feet away, waiting patiently for us to finish. Sometimes they weren't just verbal though.

Jun was currently positioned on my shoulder comfortably. I walked around Konoha, uncertain of where to look for the annoying boy. Would he be with his team, training Shino for the last exam? I had no clue. Jun hooted and took off for no reason, and for a second I thought he had found Kiba the menace, until I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I turned around, and saw someone I hadn't been expecting. "Oh, hey Shika-kun." I said with a smile. He looked as bored as ever, but I saw a flicker of surprise. What, haven't I called him Shika-kun before? I guess not. I felt my face heat up in embarrassment.

"I mean, if you don't like that I could just call you Shika again. But I thought that since we're friends it's okay. I'm sorry." I rambled. He rolled his eyes.

"How troublesome. I don't care what you call me." He answered, putting his hands in his pockets. It was just then I realized I was in his neighborhood. How had I gotten here?

"So what're you doing here?" he asked, apparently reading my thoughts. I frowned, and pushed a piece of hair behind my ear.

"Looking for Kiba. You wouldn't happen to know where he is, would you?" I asked. He looked at me as if I had grown another head, but still managing to look bored. How does he do that?

"You, Tsukiko, are looking for your sworn enemy, commonly referred to as "mutt" but you called him by his actual name? Is the world ending?" He asked rhetorically. I let out a small laugh, but shook my head.

"We called a truce because Jun and Akamaru have taken a liking to each other. I'm trying to find him so they can hang out together." I explained, and by now we had wandered over to a bench to sit on. Unfortunately it was very small, so our sides brushed against each other as we sat. It made me feel slightly uncomfortable, but Shikamaru seemed fine.

"Who would've thought?" He said, leaning back a bit. I smiled, and watched Jun chase after a mouse.

"That's what I said. So, how do you feel about the exam? Roka is terrified." I told him, watching a flock of birds fly overhead. I turned and caught him staring at me. He shrugged, and turned to watch the clouds, which there were only a few of.

"It's so bothersome. I'm not very worried about it though." He admitted, and looked over at me.

"Are you gonna go?" he asked, and I smiled at him.

"Of course! I've gotta support my friends, don't I? And by that I mean you and Roka. Not Naruto. And I don't really know Shino, so I can't really support him." I told him. We sat for a while, before Jun hopped over and flitted straight into Shikamaru's lap. He looked surprised, and unsure of what to do. I giggled at him.

"Here." I took his hand, and gently put it on Jun's back. Shikamaru stared at our hands, before I let them go. I think I held on a second too long, but oh well. He started to stroke Jun's back, and Jun curled up and fell asleep on him. I sighed.

"I'm sorry, you've probably got training to do, don't you? I guess I'll keep looking for Kiba then." I started to get up, but he shook his head.

"I've already done my training for the day, and I would rather talk to you then train anyway. If you want, even though it's bothersome, I could help you look for Kiba." He told me, staring up at the clouds, still stroking Jun's feathers.

I grinned at him. "Thanks." I was grateful for his help, but I also wanted to talk to him some more like he did with me. I realized the last time I had talked to him had been when I was in the hospital, which was about three weeks ago.

So now Jun was awake, and taking a nice fly above us, while Shikamaru and I strolled along, chatting.

"Oi Bird brains! You're late!" I sighed.

"It's your fault you didn't show up on time. I had to go looking for you." I reprimanded. He frowned.

"I wasn't late. I was at Ichiraku's at one like you said." He told me. I felt fury bubble up.

"No! You were supposed to be at training field four at twelve! God you're stupid."

"It's not my fault Kurenai-sensei worked us to the bone and all I could think about was food!" He pouted and I rolled my eyes.

"Fine. It's nearly dinner time, how 'bout we all go get something to eat?" I asked the two boys. Shikamaru had been watching us argue quietly, so Kiba seemed to notice him for the first time.

"Hey Shika! Didn't see you!" Kiba said with that dog like grin of his. Shika nodded.

"Yo." Was all he said.

"So, dinner or not?" I asked again. They both nodded, and Kiba picked the barbeque place. We had to sneak Jun and Akamaru in though. We all talked and Kiba and I argued, while we ate. We had a bunch of fun (though I won't admit that to Kiba's face) and when we were done, we had the customary, who's paying for it battle.

"I'm telling you, I'll pay! It was my idea to get dinner anyways!" I argued. Shika rolled his eyes.

"And you paid last time, so I get to pay this time. Besides, you're a woman. I won't have a woman paying for me." Shikamaru declared, and I glared at him.

"Both of you shut up and let me pay. I picked the place!" Kiba argued. I slapped my money down on the table.

"I'm paying and that is final!" I growled, daring them to object.

"But-" Kiba tried to protest, and I glared at him and he shut up. Then I smiled and leaned back.

"You guys can pay next time." I told them, and they seemed happy enough with that, so we left right after that.

Shikamaru's house came up first, so soon it was just me and Kiba.

"So why were you with Shika anyways?" He asked after a few minutes.

"Why does it matter?" I asked curiously, and I wasn't sure, but his face looked a little red.

"I dunno, are you two going out?" He asked awkwardly. I laughed.

"Me and Shika? No way." I told him. Another few minutes of walking I silence.

"Do you want to? You know, go out with him?" He asked. I glanced over at him, confused. Why was he making such a big deal over it?

"No, Shika is my friend. Nothing more." I told him, though part of me wanted to mess with him and tell him I was madly in love with Shikamaru. But another part of me said he wouldn't take that well if I tried to say that.

"Oh. Good." He said, and glanced over at me. I gave him a curious look.

"Good?" I asked, as we approached his house.

"I mean, it's good because you two don't seem like each other's type anyway." He told me. I laughed.

"Just a few weeks ago you were telling me how we would go great with each other." I pointed out. He reddened.

"Well, I was wrong." He said, and we were almost at his front door.

"So what is my type? Someone like Naruto? I could totally see that." I joked, and turned to see him redden a bit more, and stop. I stopped too, and turned to look back at him.

* * *

><p>The sun was setting, and it made the natural golden highlights in her hair glow. It made her look rather pretty. As we talked, I felt so stupid for asking her about if she liked Shikamaru. I realized half way through the conversation that I was <em>jealous<em>. I was actually jealous that the lazy boy could get her to smile at him, and I couldn't. All I got from her were yells and arguments.

When the hell had I gotten a crush on her? When she asked me who I thought her type was, I stopped walking and stared at her. I wanted to tell her that **I** was her type. I wanted to run over, wrap my arms around her, and kiss her. How horrible was that? When had my enemy gone to being my crush?

But instead of doing that, I shrugged. "Maybe Chouji because both of you are so big." I struggled to make it seem teasing. She frowned.

"And maybe you and Naruto would go well with each other since you're both loud and full of yourselves." She said coldly, and I realized I hadn't sounded teasing at all. I had sounded like I was truly insulting her. I flinched as she turned around and stalked in the direction of her house.

I wanted to run after her and shout "I'm sorry" but my pride kept me rooted to the spot.

"God I'm pathetic." I muttered, and walked inside with Akamaru right behind me.

* * *

><p>How dare he! And I had thought we were okay now? And he goes and brings that old taunt back? No! See if I ever talk to him again.<p>

I paced in my room angrily, contemplating what had just happened. Then I huffed and sat down on my bed.

"What am I doing?" I asked myself, feeling my anger diminish a bit. I laughed.

"I'm being stupid. He's called me that a thousand times. I shouldn't be so angry." I told myself, and my anger vanished, only to be replaced by guilt.

"That was very mean of me. I'll go apologize in the morning." I compromised, and got dressed in my pajamas, and went to bed.

Except, the next day Roka and Hiroshi came knocking, and I had to help train Roka because Kaito wouldn't be getting out until the day before the big exam. And even then he wouldn't be ready.

After training, they both dragged me off to a D-rank mission (weeding some old woman's garden) and a late lunch. And after all that, I was exhausted, so I trudged back home and flopped into bed.

The next day, I got a D-rank mission with Shino in the form of organizing files in the Hokage's office. Then after that more training came, and a run around Konoha.

Unfortunately, with my ankle, I was a bit slower than usual, so Roka had gone on ahead, while Hiroshi was on the other side of town.

So as I ran through some neighborhood, I tripped. I know, you would think with my eyesight I would've seen the root sticking up out of the ground. But I wasn't paying attention. I let out a yelp of pain as my bad ankle twisted slightly, sending jolts of pain up through my leg.

I sat up, and stared at my foot. It looked okay, and I hadn't sprained it again. It just hurt very badly. I tried to stand, but my leg failed and I collapsed again. I tried calling for help, but no one was out and Jun was back at home.

"Help!" I called out, drawing pictures in the dust, having given up on anyone coming to my aid.

"Kiko?" I heard someone ask from behind me. I looked back and saw Kiba. I groaned mentally, but I could feel myself blushing on the outside.

"Hey Kiba." I muttered as he walked over and looked at me. He smirked.

"Have a nice fall?" He asked, and I glowered at him. His smirk faltered, and he cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Do you need help?" He asked, and I'm not sure why, but I felt a bit of my old anger come back.

"No, I'm sure I would just crush you, right?" I said angrily, and I saw him flinch and turn his head. I immediately felt horrible.

"I'm sorry." We both said at the same time, and we both turned and stared at each other.

"I'm sorry I've been so sensitive. I over reacted, and that was wrong of me. I need to accept the truth, I am big and I need to work on it." I admitted, turning to hide my face behind my curtain of hair. I felt uncomfortable, and started to doodle in the dust again.

"No. I'm sorry, I was a jerk. You aren't big at all. You're nice and healthy. You're the weight you should be. You don't need to lose any weight, besides, it makes you look more womanly." He choked the last part out with a very red face. I smiled softly at him.

"Thanks Kiba." He looked at me, and we stared at each other for a moment before he offered me his hand. I giggled as I took it, and he yanked me up. We hobbled all the way home, with me describing my mission with Shino, and how intimidated I had been, and him telling me about how he and Akamaru were learning a new jutsu.

We finally stopped at my house, and he helped me to the door. I opened it, and he walked me over to the couch, where I flopped down. He smiled, and glanced around.

"So this is your house, eh? I imagined there would be more torture devices." He teased and I stuck my tongue out at him.

"At least it doesn't smell like wet dog." I teased right back. He rolled his eyes and walked around, investigating. I switched on a movie on the TV, and watched as some dude made a fool of himself in a restaurant trying to get a woman to notice him. I giggled as I watched, before Kiba picked up a picture from a table.

"Who's this?" He asked, staring at the picture. I turned to look at him, and realized which picture he had picked up.

"Oh. That's my mother." I answered, before turning back to the TV.

"She's very pretty, what happened to her?" He asked. My smile fell, and I paused the movie. Kiba sat next to me, and I stared at the picture he held.

"She was a medi-nin." I started, and he waited patiently for more. "She was given a mission to go to a small village north of Konoha. It had come down with disease, and they needed someone to help. So she went, and cured everyone, but she herself got sick, and no one knew until it was too late. She died in her sleep the night before she was supposed to come home." I finished my story softly, and his face looked ashen. The picture was held very loosely in his hand, so I reached over and took it, staring at the woman inside.

Kiba had been right. She was very pretty, with her big brown eyes and soft smile. Her eyebrows were too big though. I wonder if she had ever been teased about it. Her long curly black hair was pushed back over her shoulders, but a few strands lay in front, and they looked silky soft.

Her pale skin shone in the sunlight, and the regular clothes she wore made her look laid back and relaxed, like she didn't have a care in the world. I traced her slightly chubby cheek with my finger, before I shook my head.

"I'm really sorry." Kiba said, and scooted closer so he could look at her too.

"Don't be. I don't miss her. I can barely remember her. Sometimes I wonder what it would've been like to have her around, you know. But other than that, I hardly think about her." I told him with a smile. It was one hundred percent true. He nodded, and patted my shoulder.

"Do you want me to stick around until your dad gets back?" He asked, glancing at my foot. I giggled.

"If you want to. There's a stash of junk food in the cabinet to the left of the fridge." I told him, and he grinned and scampered for the unhealthy snacks as if they were gold.

He came back, his arms laden with sweets and chips, with soda cans too. I giggled, and plucked a bag of chips from his arms before he dumped everything on the far left seat. He sat next to me with a box of Twinkies and I started the movie over. It was a comedy so we were both laughing the entire way through.

So three giant bags of chips, one bag of burnt popcorn, a Pepsi explosion, and countless sweets later, I yawned and laid my head back, and let my eyes flutter closed. Before I knew it, I was in dream land.

* * *

><p>God she was adorable. I would never say it out loud though. She had fallen asleep, with only another quarter of the movie to go. I had slept in late today, so I wasn't tired. But I stopped paying attention to the movie, and looked at her. Her long brown hair was slightly messy after rubbing against the couch for so long, and her long neck was exposed from her head lying back on the cushion.<p>

Soft little puffs of air came out of her mouth, and it almost sounded like a snore, but softer. I smirked at her. I hesitantly reached a hand over though, and brushed a piece of hair behind her ear. It was so soft, I wanted to run my fingers through more of it, but I held back and shook my head.

Suddenly, her head slumped to the side, and landed on my shoulder. I was surprised, but she kept sleeping. Must be a deep sleeper, I thought. I got up, and gently lowered her down into a lying position on the sofa. I put her feet up too, and I rose an eyebrow when I saw her nails were painted white with little dark blue polka dots.

I tossed a blanket over her, and switched the TV off, and put my shoes on. As I opened the door, I looked back and shook my head at her.

"Why you?" I asked no one in particular, not knowing what exactly I was asking her about. Almost as if she had heard me, she shifted into a more comfortable position, and I walked out of the house and back to my own home.

**So! Not exactly fluff, but still cute right? Well, we'll get some Shika fluff in the next chapter (hopefully). But you knnooowww, reviews and votes might encourage that fluff! *Wink Wink***

**Seems like Kiba has developed a crush! Le gasp! I wonder what will happen? And when will our pretty little Kiko get it? Stay tuned for the next episode of Silver Moon! (Nearly typed moo there. I don't think Kiko would like the insult :D)**

**Buh bye now!**

**-Ash**


	11. A Festival and the Chuunin Exam, Part 3

**The voting is to decide who Kiko will be with. Wasn't sure if anyone needed reminding, because I have received no votes so far, and I sorta need them. :\ I could choose who she'll be with, but if I have to do that there will more than likely be an unhappy ending. :P**

**WARNING- Since I love yaoi so much, there will be hints of it between Roka and Kai (Please no flames about this, there won't be much of it, just lite fluff and that's it.)**

**Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto, because if I did I would make Sasuke randomly start singing Furry Walls by Infant Sorrow. :D**

_A Festival and the Chuunin Exam, Part 3_

The night before the exam was a festival, where there was lots of food and celebrating every which way you looked. For me, it was the time to annoy the hell out of my dad.

"Papa? Can we get ice cream (1)?" I asked excitedly, tugging my dad towards the ice cream stand. He laughed and patted my head.

"Sure, why not?" So we both got ice cream, plain chocolate for me, and mint chocolate chip for him. When we passed a bar, he peered inside and grinned.

"Here, go find some of your friends to hang out with, kay? Ja ne!" Before I could protest, he had scampered into the bar to hang with his friends. I could tell I would be dragging a very drunk dad home later that night. He had pressed a giant wad of money in my hands, and I shrugged.

As I ate my ice cream, I tried looking for anyone I might know. No luck. So finally I just decided to wander around.

"Yo Kiko!" I heard someone yell behind me. I turned, trying to see the person who had called my name. I grinned and waved with my free hand.

"Hi Shika-kun!" I called out, and he walked through the crowd and eventually stood in front of me. I licked my ice cream and smiled at him.

"Shouldn't you be at home resting for tomorrow?" I asked him, as we turned and walked past all the decorated booths. He shrugged.

"My dad is being a bother. He's drunk in some bar with his old friends, and won't come home. My mom will yell at me if I don't bring him home." He explained, rolling his eyes. I giggled.

"My dad just now started drinking." I told him, and bit a piece of the cone. He looked at me and sighed.

"Do you want a bite?" I asked, offering the ice cream. He looked at me like I had grown another head.

"Aren't girls always worried about germs?" He asked. I shook my head and grinned.

"I grew up with a bunch of food stealing birds and a guy. I have no problems with germs." I told him laughing. He shrugged and took the ice cream from me and took a big bite. I stared at him as he chewed up the ice cream and the cone. He took another bite, and I laughed. It was almost gone. He tried to offer it back.

"No, you can keep it." I laughed. He shrugged and finished it off.

So we wandered around for a bit, trying different foods, and there were even a few games to play. I almost won a goldfish, but the paper broke just before I could get into the container. (2) Shikamaru wouldn't try any of the games, but I won a fluffy pink bunny from a toss the ring game. I held it and chatted with him, and pointed out certain things, rambling on and on. He didn't seem to mind though, so I was happy.

After an hour and a half had gone by, we went to check on our dads.

"Papa?" I asked, poking his head. He waved me away and downed another glass.

"I-I'm fine, Ki-hic-ko go have fun wif your boyfriend!" He exclaimed, nearly falling off the chair. I giggled and rolled my eyes.

"He's not my boyfriend papa. He's just a friend." I told him. He shook his head and went back to drinking. I walked over to where Shikamaru's dad was with his friends. They were arguing and it was obvious his dad was completely smashed.

"C'mon Shika! Have some fun! Izz a festibal you know!" Shikamaru's dad encouraged, downing a glass of sake. I approached them with a smile.

"It's alright Shika-kun, my dad won't leave either. We can walk around some more if you want." I told him. He blushed, and his dad blinked at me.

"Shika-_kun_? Who's this byootiful girl Shika? Why didn't you tell your old man you had a girlfriend? Good job son, thazz mah boy!" He exclaimed, and turned to his friends before we could protest.

"Hey fellas! My boy has a pretty girlfriend!" He told them, grinning. They stared at me and back to Shika, and applauded Shika.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Shika protested. I giggled.

"They won't remember it in the morning, it's okay." I told him, patting his shoulder. So he sighed, and we walked out and tried to look for more of our friends. We finally gave up, and sat on a bench. Something caught my eye though, so I turned to Shika.

"Wait here." I told him, and ran over to the stand. I came back with a giant ice cream cone filled with more chocolate ice cream, and handed it to him. He stared at it, and then looked back at me.

"Well you seem to like ice cream, and since the exam's tomorrow, it's my treat." I told him with a smile, and sat down next to him. He rolled his eyes.

"Haven't you been paying for everything tonight?" He asked, taking a big bite out of the ice cream.

"Yup, but I want to." I told him, leaning back and holding my new bunny. He leaned back too, and I stared at my bunny.

"I think I will call him Usa-chan." I nodded decisively, and Shikamaru snorted at me. I giggled, and rubbed the bunny's soft ears.

"Oi! Shikamaru, Kiko!" I heard someone call out, and I waved at Kiba. He shoved through the crowd to get to us.

"Yo." Shikamaru said, and I smiled. Kiba stared at Shikamaru's ice cream.

"Where'd you get that?" Kiba asked, licking his lips. Shika shrugged.

"I dunno. Kiko got it for me." Kiba gave me the puppy pout, and I sighed as I went and got another one. When I got back, Kiba had stolen my spot.

"Hey!" I pouted as he nabbed the ice cream from my hand and went back to _my_ seat.

"Don't make me squish you!" I threatened, and put my hands on my hips. He poked his tongue out at me, so I walked over and sat on his lap. He frowned but shrugged. Shikamaru looked very amused.

"If you two didn't argue so much, you would be perfect for each other." Shikamaru told us as he licked his ice cream. I flew out of Kiba's lap, and shook my head.

"No, no, no, no! Kiba? Are you insane?" I asked, and if I hadn't been busy staring incredulously at Shikamaru, I would've seen a flicker of hurt on Kiba's face.

"Yeah Shika, me and bird brains? No way." Kiba laughed, and bit off a piece of the cone. Shika shrugged. So I opted to lean against a pole while they finished, and then we went exploring again. When we passed the goldfish game, I left my bunny with them and raced over to try again.

* * *

><p>When my dad had thought I was going out with Kiko, I must say that I had blushed because for a second I thought I would like it if we were. But I threw that thought away almost as quickly as it came. I've never thought about Kiko like that. I mean sure, she's cute and all. And she is a strong Kunoichi, but I had never felt anything for her other than friendship.<p>

But as we walked through the stall lined streets, I found myself staring at her as she talked for the two of us. She was quite pretty, just like my dad had said. I don't know why I had never noticed it before. And the way she was so excited over the littlest things made me smile.

So when she bought me an ice cream I also realized she was quite generous. She was the exact opposite of what I had thought all women were supposed to be like.

Kiba came along shortly after that, and she got him an ice cream too. I wasn't very concerned when she sat on his lap; I thought it was just because they were friends. But I saw it. The faint blush that came to Kiba's cheeks, and when I made my comment and she reacted, that hurt look on his face confirmed it.

Kiba had a crush on her. So now I needed to really banish all thoughts of her out of my head. I refuse to hurt one of my friends over a girl. So I decided I should leave them alone, but I couldn't leave. Part of me wanted to tell Kiba to beat it so I could be alone with her again, and I didn't like it. But that part of me was actually very big, so I couldn't leave.

When she rushed over to the goldfish again, we waited patiently for her. I decided to confront Kiba about all of this. Maybe he doesn't like her.

"You like her, don't you?" I asked rather bluntly, and turned to watch him. His eyes flew open and his face turned the color of a tomato.

"What? M-me? Don't be stupid Shika! All those nerves about tomorrow must be getting to you!" He stammered, with a nervous grin. I frowned.

"I can tell you're lying." I told him, and turned to watch as Kiko caught a fish, but the paper broke. I must admit her pout looked cute. There was a huge sigh from beside me, and I glanced over to see Kiba watching the night sky.

"Yea. I do." He said quietly. He glanced down at me, and I hadn't realized I had been scowling until then. He gave me a confused look.

"Well this is troublesome." I said. He glared as he got it.

"What do we do?" He asked, with a slight edge to his tone. I shrugged.

"Wait and see what she does." Was the last line of the conversation, because Kiko trotted back with a big pout on her face.

* * *

><p>The next day the final exam arrived, and I was very excited. Of course Roka had to get there early, so Hiroshi and I went and picked up Kaito, who had gotten out of the hospital the day before.<p>

We knocked, and waited patiently for him to answer the door. When it was opened, a bandaged up Kaito stood there with a grin. He had to use a crutch, so we had decided to get him early so he wouldn't feel rushed. (That and we wanted good seats)

"Hey Kai!" I beamed, and helped him out onto the street, where he then insisted he could walk on his own. So we walked at a nice pace, and watched as most of the villagers went to the stadium. We ourselves got there on time, and got seats near most of the other genin.

"Hey Kiko!" Chouji waved as he broke open a bag of chips and started to munch on them. I waved back, and helped Kaito get comfortable.

We all talked and chatted until it was supposed to start, and even then Naruto and Sasuke weren't there yet. I leaned over the railing and waved at Roka, and he flushed and waved back. When he saw Kaito, he smiled and waved at him too. Kai gave him a thumbs up, and grinned.

I watched wide eyed as a flash of orange flew into the arena, and giggled when it flopped onto the ground. It was just Naruto. I smiled as Shikamaru helped him up.

We had to wait around until Sasuke and some sound in got there, until finally they decided to start without them.

I watched as Naruto battled Hinata's cousin, and I was quite amazed at how much he had progressed. After that was supposed to be Sasuke's match but he hadn't shown up yet, so they pushed Shikamaru's up instead. I felt like going down and slapping Naruto when he pushed Shikamaru over the side. I'll do it when I see him next, I decided.

As I watched, I sat on the edge of my seat, concerned. The girl looked like she wouldn't hesitate to just go ahead and kill him. And at one point I thought about sending Jun down to help him, but I shook my head and relaxed. Shikamaru knew what he was doing. He's a great shinobi after all.

I gasped when he gave up, but smiled. Typical Shikamaru. Too lazy to finish it. I frowned when Naruto leaped down and started yelling at Shikamaru. Everyone started talking about Sasuke's match, and I rolled my eyes. Shikamaru and Roka were just as good as that arrogant emo kid, if not better.

When the angst filled teenager finally did show up, of course it was a dramatic entrance. I rolled my eyes as Ino and Sakura got excited. I laughed when I saw Sasuke had grown out his bangs. It made him look like a girl.

I felt bad for Shikamaru. Everyone had already pushed all of his hard work aside and were making a big deal over Sasuke. Naruto and Shikamaru headed up then, and I wondered if I should go meet them. No, I'll stay here. I decided. I watched as Jun flew over the stadium, stretching his wings a bit after the long wait.

Gaara sure was intimidating. I almost felt sorry for Sasuke, but I was too busy wondering what was taking Shikamaru and Naruto so long. They were both worthy opponents, they seemed to be on the same skill level, and for a moment I wondered if I would be able to beat Sasuke in a battle. I wouldn't chance one with Gaara, who knows what that kid would be able to do to Jun?

Suddenly there came a loud cry of "Kakashi sensei!" from behind, and I turned to see Naruto and Shikamaru run up. I smiled, but it dropped when I saw Shikamaru and Naruto were both out of breath, and looked quite pale. Naruto started shouting about how his sensei should stop the match.

"He lives to kill people!" Naruto claimed, and I rolled my eyes.

"He's just a kid dummy. He can't kill people." Everyone looked at me. Even that Rock Lee kid gave me a funny look.

"She wasn't there when he crushed Lee's arm and leg, she doesn't know. Give her a break." Kaito said calmly, itching at one of his bandages. I flushed in embarrassment as Naruto carried on.

Sasuke's chidori terrified me, and I decided I wouldn't battle him, ever. He could take out one of my birds with only a fifth of that power. But when Gaara fell, I felt very drowsy all of a sudden. I yawned and glanced around. Where had all of those feathers come from? They couldn't be Jun's. They were pink and there were far too many to have come from the little owl. What the hell was going on?

Oh, it's a genjutsu! But why? I released it easily, and stood up. All of my friends and the civilians were under it too. Hiroshi and the other sensei's were up though.

"Sensei? What's happening?" I asked worriedly. He glanced over at me, a doubtful expression on his face.

"I'm not sure." He told me, and we walked over to Kakashi and Gai. I gasped as an explosion came from the Hokage's seating area. I was kind of scared.

"Should I wake them up?" I asked, uncertain. No one answered me, so I signaled Jun. He hadn't been affected, and flew over.

"Would you like me to send Jun over to check on the Hokage?" I asked. Still no answer. Anbu flew over us and over to the Hokage though, so I dropped it. I yelped when the Kazekage trapped the Hokage and himself inside a barrier.

"We have to do something!" I yelled, but they didn't pay me any attention. I saw Sakura was the only other genin who had dispelled it. When an Anbu member tried to stop all three Jounin sensei's from going to help, I was very confused.

"We were tricked." I decided, and then they started fighting. I ran over to Sakura, and we both crouched and watched as they fought. I snarled as two of the sound nin tried to attack me and Sakura. I whipped out a Kunai and deflected their blows a second before Kakashi made it over to us.

"Sakura, Tsukiko, stay here, I'm going to go reduce the number of enemies." He instructed, and took off.

"Not without me." I frowned, and ran towards one of them. So I helped out, and I was proud to say I was doing quite well.

"Kiko! You go with them!" Hiroshi yelled at me, pointing at where Sakura, Naruto, and Shikamaru were gathered around Kakashi. I frowned but ran over.

"What's happening?" I asked. They explained that they were going after Sasuke. I shook my head.

"I'm sorry but I can't go. My ankle isn't completely well yet. I'll stay here." They nodded, and Kakashi summoned a little pug. I frowned.

"Jun will do much better. Take him. If he screeches, pay attention." I told them, and signaled Jun to follow them.

"That's a good idea, but Pakkun will go too, just in case." Kakashi told me, and I could tell he doubted Jun. I shrugged and smiled at Shikamaru.

"Good luck!" I told them, and before I could change my mind, I kissed Shikamaru's cheek and flew back into battle.

A very ugly woman ran towards me, and I felt very angry. I'm not sure why, I just did. So I ran at her too, and dodged her attack, while slicing her torso, then stabbing my Kunai deep into her back. She yelped, and fell over.

I felt almost helpless since I didn't have Jun, but I soon found that if no jutsu was involved, I could handle myself. But I did manage to get my shoulder sliced. I cursed and hid behind some seats as I looked at it. It was quite deep and bleeding horribly. I stole some woman's scarf and wrapped it tightly around the wound, and charged at another guy.

He turned and sliced his kunai at me, but I flipped backwards to avoid it. I threw my kunai at him, then a few shuriken. One lodged in his arm, but the rest he dodged. I grabbed another shuriken and hastily applied an explosion tag to it. I smirked in satisfaction as he was blown into the wall.

So the battle continued like this, and I would get minor cuts and scratches, when I suddenly wondered where Roka was. He should've been able to dispel the jutsu easily, being a genjutsu user himself. But I couldn't worry right now, I had to save my own neck, and I was currently facing three men.

I snarled and threw shuriken at them all. Only a few landed, and they all ran at me. Suddenly, Hiroshi had taken two and slammed their heads together, while I kicked the last one so he slammed head first into the wall. I grinned at Hiroshi, and panted from all the ass kicking I had been doing.

"You're doing great. I'm proud of you." He told me quickly, before he launched himself at another few enemies.

I ran to the railing, and gasped when I saw a ginormous three headed snake in the village. I looked back and decided they were fine. I bit my thumb until I drew blood, and formed the signs. After I had slammed my hand onto the floor, a giant Owl appeared in a cloud of smoke. He was the size of about two of me stacked on top of each other.

"Hm? What am I doing here young mistress?" He asked, and peered down at me. I slumped over, almost drained from the amount of chakra it had taken to summon him. I pointed at the multi-headed snake. He hooted in compliance. (3)

"Are you coming too?" He asked. I shook my head. I was spent. I couldn't do much else. He nodded, and took off towards the enemy reptile. I hid behind some seats until I was alright again, and went back into the fray.

Not long after, we had finished off all of the sand and sound nins, but the last one had beaten me up quite a bit. I rolled over and coughed up blood, and winced as I pulled a kunai out of my belly. Blood oozed from it steadily, and I winced and stole another scarf to tie around it. I sat up, and glanced around. Hiroshi rushed over.

"Are you alright?" He asked, and I nodded. He helped me stand up.

"What now?" I asked him. He sighed.

"Sorry 'bout this, but you've done enough for now." He told me, and I gave him a confused look before he pinched my neck and I passed out.

* * *

><p><strong>(1)- See, I'm fairly new to the whole Japanese thing, so I don't know much about typical sweets or foods they might eat in japan, so bear with me. ^-^<strong>

**(2)- Same thing here, I just read up on a few games they have at festivals, and I've seen Naruto play them too.**

**(3)- Makes sense right? And if Naruto can do it, why can't Kiko?**

**Hope y'all enjoyed my effort at drunken talk :D High fives for whoever recognizes Usa-chan.**

**Oooohh, a little competition between our two boys now! How cute!**

**Reminder- I'm not good at action scenes, so don't kill me if it sounds all weird. And I'm sorry if it's not as long as it should be. I just wasn't excited about writing this chapter. I wrote it to get it out of the way :D**

**-Ash**

**P.S. I'd love some votes and reviews!**

**P.P.S (or somethin like that) I'd REALLY love some reviews and votes ^-^**


	12. Recovery

_Recovery_

When I woke up next, Hiroshi had been carrying me, and he looked even more beat up than when he had forced me to pass out. So that meant I had been out of it for a while. Unfortunately I passed out again before I could say anything.

The next time I had awoken, a woman had undressed me from the waist up and was bandaging up my cuts and stab wounds. There hadn't been many, so she finished quickly, and the drugs she had given me made me fall asleep.

Now, I would like to say that the next time I woke up; it had been because my body had told me to. But no. I was shaken awake, and someone was practically yelling in my ear. I opened my eyes and flinched at the sudden brightness. I looked over at my assailant, and yawned.

"What do you want?" I groaned, and flopped back into my bed. Wait, my bed? When had I been brought home? Oh well, as long as I was here I was happy.

"You've been asleep for two whole days!" A voice whined in my ear. I looked over and glared at my sensei.

"Why're you here anyways? You looked even more beat up than I was last time I saw you." I asked as I sat up and scowled at him in annoyance. He grinned his usual hyperactive grin, but I gasped when I saw all the bandages.

"You should be home resting!" I scolded, and tossed my feet over the edge of the bed. He shrugged and smirked.

"They're not as bad as they seem. I've only got a few deep cuts and burns. The rest are for scratches." I gave him a doubtful look, but stood up and stretched anyways. I cursed and clutched my stomach as pain stabbed me.

"You should probably not do that for a bit." He told me. I rolled my eyes.

"So what happened anyways? We won right?" I asked as I finally remembered what had happened. So he sighed and got comfortable in my desk chair, while I sat on the edge of my bed again.

He explained everything, and that the Hokage's funeral would be tomorrow. I bowed my head in silence for a moment, out of respect for the third.

"What about Roka and Kai?" I asked, lifting my head to stare at him. He smiled at me, so I breathed a sigh of relief. They must be fine or else he wouldn't be here.

"Oh they're fine. Kai was asleep for the whole thing, and Roka had rushed off to help at the gates. Almost got crushed by a wall, but other than that he's fine." I pouted as my stomach growled.

"What does a girl have to do to get some food around here?" I whined, patting my stomach, carefully mind you. Hiroshi laughed and got out of the chair, and I followed him downstairs. I looked around, and sighed when I saw my dad's shoes were gone.

"Don't look so glum. We all have to put the village back together and carry missions out as usual. We don't want other countries to think that we're weak, right?" I nodded, and slipped on my shoes and followed him out the door.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Ichiraku's." He answered simply. I smiled; of course Hiroshi would never be bothered to actually cook.

"When can I start helping out?" I asked. He shrugged and ruffled my hair.

"The doctor said as soon as your stomach scabs over and doesn't break." He told me. I nodded, and we were silent until we reached the ramen shop. I saw all the damage that had been done, and I was awestruck. How long would it take to fix all of this? It felt kind of hopeless.

But I forgot about my thoughts when a giant bowl of ramen was placed in front of me, and devoured it. Hiroshi laughed and slurped up his own.

Two bowls of ramen later, I was quite content, and pulled out my wallet to pay, but Hiroshi pulled his out.

"Oh not this again." He groaned. I glared, and pulled my money out as he did the same.

"I'm paying!" I told him, and he shook his head.

"No, you're injured. I'll pay." He argued, and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"You're injured too, dummy. C'mon, let me pay." I told him.

"She does this to you too? How bothersome." A voice said behind us, and I swiveled around to see Shikamaru standing behind us with his hands stuffed into his pockets.

"Shika!" I exclaimed, and hugged him. He patted my back, and I pulled away with a smile. I was surprised to see he had a small smile too, but it disappeared quickly.

"Haha!" Hiroshi yelled, and I turned and glared when I saw he had used my distraction to pay. He grinned at me, and I rolled my eyes. "You two have fun, I'm goin' home." He told us, and walked off.

"He's so weird." I told Shikamaru as I watched Hiroshi's back get smaller and smaller.

"He seems very energetic." Shikamaru told me, and I nodded.

"You don't know the half of it. So what're you doing here?" I asked and turned to face him. He shrugged and looked up at a fluffy cloud.

"I was actually going to see how you were." He told me, and I smiled.

"I just woke up actually. I can't help out until one of my wounds gets better though." I admitted and he nodded. We started walking, when I suddenly remembered something.

"Oh! Was Jun helpful? He didn't get in the way, right?" I asked, wondering what had happened.

"Hm? He was helpful. He took out half of the enemies that were following us. Kept track of Sasuke too." He informed me, and I grinned.

"That's good." I said, and we kept walking.

"Kiko?" He asked in his bored voice. I looked over at him.

"Yes?" He sighed and muttered about something being so bothersome. I laughed at him.

"Before Naruto, Sakura, and I went off, you… well, you kissed me. Why?" He asked, and he had a small blush on his cheeks. I laughed.

"It was for good luck, and it was just your cheek. I don't like you or anything. Don't worry." I assured him with a smile. He nodded and cleared his throat.

"Asuma-sensei wants us to help with the front gate, so I should go." He told me, and I nodded.

"See you later." I waved as he walked off, then I headed towards home.

* * *

><p>The next day, I headed to the Hokage's funeral with my dad. It felt like everyone was upset, and in turn it made me rather upset. When it started raining, I couldn't help but feel it was perfect funeral weather.<p>

My dad and I barely said anything to each other; we were both wrapped up in our own thoughts. And as I stared at the fluffy white flower n my hands, I remembered the first time I had talked to the Hokage. It had been back when I was training Jun.

"_Flap your wings! No! Not that hard!" I yelled up to the tiny brown owl who was trying to fly from branch to branch. He squawked at me and tumbled through the air to the next branch._

"_You're doing better, but try and get your wing tips to meet when you flap!" I told him, and he tried it, and his flight was slightly better. He was doing good until he lost control and few into the ground. I gasped and ran over._

"_Are you alright?" I asked as I picked up the little bird. He gave a soft cry and snuggled into the crook of my arm._

"_You did very good. We'll stop for the day." I told him as I stroked his feathers. I stood up and turned to go home, but stopped when I saw someone had been watching me._

"_Hokage-sama!" I gasped, and bowed. He chuckled and walked over._

"_You were doing very well, why stop?" He asked me as he patted Jun. I blushed._

"_He's been working hard. I thought I shouldn't push him anymore." I admitted, and glanced up at the Hokage's face. He was smiling, so I smiled back._

"_Try it a few more times. You'll be surprised at how far he can really go." He told me, and I nodded and climbed the tree and placed Jun on the top one. He hooted as I climbed down, and the Hokage and I both watched as he flew._

_On the fifth branch, he took off and I gasped. "Perfect! You're doing great!" I called out to him, and he circled the clearing and finally landed wobbly on the ground in front of me. I picked him up and praised him, then turned to the Hokage._

"_Thank you Hokage-sama." I thanked him and he nodded and smiled._

"_You will go far too, Tsukiko." He told me and patted my head. I scowled._

"_No I won't. All those other kids just tease me and I can't fight back. I'm weak." I pouted, and he chuckled._

"_Sometimes all you need to become strong is a good friend. That is why you're bird here was able to fly. He has you." He told me, smiling warmly. I gave him a doubtful look._

"_So all I need to be able to be strong, is a friend?" He nodded and I smiled. "That's good advice. I'll go make a friend then! Ja ne Hokage-sama!" I waved and ran off towards home, wondering who my new friend would be._

I had taken the Hokage's advice to heart and made better friends with Chouji, and later Hinata. With their help, the other kid's words didn't hurt me anymore, and I was even able to throw words back at them. That was when I had started calling Kiba a mutt.

I gave a soft smile at the memory, and sniffled as the tears started to leak from my eyes. Jun gave a soft hoot. I suspect he was remembering the same thing. When I stepped up to place my flower on the tomb, my smile disappeared when I saw how many other shinobi had perished in the fight. I shuddered to think that my friends and my own father could've died. I don't think I'd be able to live with myself if I lost my dad.(1)

So I hurried back to dad, and held his hand. He smiled at me, and I saw he had been crying too. Was he thinking about mom? He only ever looked like that when he thought about mom. So I patted his hand, and we stood through the rest of the service in silence, and when it was done, we walked home through the rain.

* * *

><p>"Get back here! You are filthy Jun! I am <em>going<em> to give you a bath whether you like it or not!" I yelled after the little brown bird as I chased him across the rooftops of Konoha. See, unfortunately, all the repair work and cleanup was getting Jun covered with dust and dirt. Mainly I just got to do cleanup, considering I can't do heavy lifting or my injury would rip open.

He disappeared from sight, and I sighed as I followed him behind a wall.

"Oi! What's all this ruckus?" I heard someone ask, and I turned to apologize, until I saw it was Kiba. I sighed, he had caught Jun.

"Thanks for catching him. Its bath time and he doesn't like it until he's actually in the water." It told him as I took Jun from him. He looked confused.

"Can you even give birds baths?" He asked, staring at me. I nodded.

"Yes. He likes to shower with me best though. We even have a little perch in the shower for him." I told him. He blushed red and looked away.

"You take a shower, t-together?" He stuttered. I nodded, giving him an are-you-okay look.

"It's not that unusual. Birds are very attached to their companions. The other owl I'm training only takes baths in the sink. She loves to bring toys in too." I told him, and he nodded.

Jun glared up at me from my arms. Kiba smirked. "Akamaru hates baths too. Ignores me for the rest of the day after one." He laughed. I giggled and nodded.

"Well I should be going." I told him, and he nodded.

"I'll see you later." He said, and I walked off.

* * *

><p>"See? You love baths! I don't know why you fight so much." I told Jun as I put shampoo in my hair. He gave an excited hoot as he flitted through the stream of water and landed on his perch. I giggled and washed the shampoo out.<p>

The rest of the shower was spent playing around and getting clean. I got out and wrapped a towel around me, and scooped Jun up in a smaller towel then I patted him dry. He flew out and I dried myself off.

* * *

><p>A week later, the wound scabbed up, and I was allowed to do hard work with my team again. I tried my hardest, and we were worked to the bone by Hiroshi. But I didn't mind. I liked helping my village get back up on its feet. The only thing that bothered me was who the next Hokage would be.<p>

I had heard a rumor that Naruto's trainer, Jiraiya, was the one the elders wanted. I hadn't met him or seen him, but if he was a Sannin, then I wouldn't mind too much. I wondered what kind of person he was. He must be very powerful to be one of the legendary Sannin.

Shaking my head, I tried to focus on the task at hand right now; I didn't need to worry about something silly like that. The elders wouldn't pick a bad Hokage. I don't need to worry about that.

I struggled as I pushed my side of the wall. Roka was on the opposite end, while Kaito was standing on one of the beams of the house, pulling a rope we had attached to the top of the wall.

We were currently rebuilding one of the homes that had been destroyed, and we were putting the last wall into place. Hiroshi quickly put the bolts in to fasten the wall to the others.

"Are we done for the day?" Kaito whined. We had started at noon, and the sun was setting already. Hiroshi sighed and nodded.

"Yes, we can stop. Even I'm tired. Miracle right?" He chuckled, and we all laughed. So we trudged back to our homes, which were in separate directions. I didn't have Jun with me, so the walk home was quiet. When I did arrive at my house, it was still quiet. My dad had been working so hard lately; it wasn't surprising he had gone to bed early.

As tired and sore as I was, I didn't want to go to bed after my shower. I stared at the twin sized bed in distaste, and put regular clothes back on to go for a small walk. I closed the door gently behind me, and began a nice quiet walk all to myself. Before long, I accidentally found myself at the place where Shikamaru loved to watch clouds.

I smiled as I stared up at the sky. The sun was still setting, and the sky was a beautiful peachy color. The clouds looked beautiful too, they looked almost golden. There was no one there, so I decided to sit down on the bench and stare at the sky for a while. It was nice. It cleared my head and made me feel relaxed. How just staring at the sky could do that, I'll never know.

When the stars came out though, is when I really perked up. Being a trainer of Owls, I naturally love the night a bit more than daytime. I had watched the stars as often as possible when I was younger, but everything had been so hectic for a while, I hadn't found a free moment to do so.

I laid back on the bench, and rose my and up to trace constellations with my fingers. I gigged as I started to make up my own constellations, a thing I had done in my childhood too. I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings, so when I heard someone clear their throat behind me. I yelped and leapt up from my spot.

I whirled around to see who the person was, and let out a relieved sigh when I saw it was just Shikamaru. I smiled at him.

"You scared me Shika-kun! What are you doing up here?" I asked, and sat back down. He shrugged and sat next to me.

"Figured I'd take a walk, and I saw you up here. I was going to ask you the same question. How bothersome." He sighed. I smiled.

"Didn't want to go to sleep. I thought if I took a walk, I might want to go to bed." I told him. He nodded, and looked up at the sky and sighed.

"How troublesome. There's nothing interesting to do here." He commented, his eyes gazing up at the twinkling lights. I sighed with a smile, and shook my head.

"The stars are so beautiful. It's fun to watch them." I corrected him, and turned my head up towards the stars as well.

"They don't move though." He told me blandly, and I smiled.

"That's what makes them so fun. You can make shapes out of them, or find real constellations." I said, and pointed up at a cluster of stars.

"That's Perseus, and to the left of him is Cassiopeia(2)." I continued to rattle off the different constellations until he yawned. I blushed and stopped rambling.

"Sorry." I whispered, and fiddled with the hem of my shirt. I looked up at him, and saw he was staring at me with furrowed brows.

"How bothersome. Why are you sorry?" He asked, and I shrugged.

"I talk too much." I'm not sure what I expected, but happened next was certainly not it. He laughed. He was laughing at me! I frowned, and when he looked at me again, I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Now that is an understatement." He told me, chuckling, and I was surprised that he hadn't used his catchphrase. But in the end, I just laughed along with him, and we spent an hour or so just talking.

All in all, it was a good night.

**(1)-Foreshadowing, perhaps? :D**

**(2)- Just random constellations**

**KikoxKiba-1**

**KikoxShika-0**

**Let's rack in those votes people! I can't do anything with the story until I get them! Why do you think it took so long to get this one out? :D**


	13. UPDATE! Please Read!

Dear readers-

I am so sosososososo sorry. There are no words to describe how extremely sorry I am about my horribleness. I want you to know I feel like crap about this. It has been far too long since I last updated, and there is no excuse. I feel even worse though because I led you on with empty promises. I have tried multiple times to write another chapter, but I've forgotten the entire plot. I can't even remember what my big finale was going to be.

So I would like you to know, this story is up for grabs. If there is anyone who has an idea of what they'd like to do with what I already have, message me, and it's yours. No requirements, and honestly, I'll let more than one person adopt it. So that way anyone can do what they want to it. If you'd like.

In a few weeks I'll try again with a new story. Except it won't be Naruto, it'll be Harry Potter, because I honestly love HP more. It'll be an au story where Draco and Harry are actually friends. The idea has been used a lot, but I have a twist for it. So if you haven't lost all faith in me, come read it when I start posting. But don't worry, I'll make sure to have at least ten chappies written before I post the first.

With much love and sorrow, Ashley.


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